Conflicted
by anime-dark-fairy
Summary: ok my first fanfic  Kira gets captured by ZAFT, what do they plan for him. How will La Flaga get him back. What does Athrun want for his former best friend?
1. Chapter 1

**Ok. My first fanfic, don't be too harsh :)**

**I do not own Gundam Seed. Duh :)**

* * *

><p><em>Note: Ok, so this first chapter will mostly be a re-telling of episode 5, where the archangel is heading for Artimis, but Le Creuset has other ideas. Please forgive any spelling errors :). <em>

**Chapter 1: A fated happening?**

(Story begins just as Kira and Athrun are meeting on the battle field as Le Creuset tries to cut off the Archangel from reaching Artimis.)

_**Kira's POV:**_

_How can I do this? I'm no soldier... No I have to, for my friends. _I though as I slowed the Strike down to survey the coming enemies and try to think of a good way of intercepting them.

I noticed an incoming ship, and saw it was the Aegis_. The Aegis... That's... Athrun! _

He was heading straight for me, and for the moment I forgot all about the Archangel and the other 3 Gundam's, I watched as the Aegis drew its sword, I was slower to respond, and as it came at me I knew I would have been to late. But the expected hit never came, the Aegis flew straight past me, positioning itself between me and the Archangel. I waited, not sure what to do...

"Kira!" Athrun's voice sounded over the intercom, and his face came up on the video screen.

"Athrun!" I responded, not entirely sure what to say.

"Stop this!" Athrun said, determination in his voice "Please put away your sword Kira. We are not enemies, am I right? Why do we have to fight each other?"

For the moment I was stunned, I hated fighting at the best of times and I hated it so much more now because it was Athrun on the other side_. What do I say? How can I make you understand why I'm doing this? _I think.

"Athrun..." I reply lamely.

"Your a Coordinator just like us. Why would you wana fight against your own kind?" Athrun continues.

_Grrr, I just cant do this, not now _I think. I am spared further thought, as an explosion near the Archangel draws my attention_. No! How could I forget?_

"Archangel..." Is all I say aloud, I instantly head the Strike in the direction of the Archangel, but the Aegis cuts me off. He was intent on making me listen. _Athrun... Please..._

"Kira enough!" Athrun shouts through the intercom.

"Athrun." I say softly. I realized then, that I had been saying the same thing over and over; _Athrun_. I really needed to snap out of it, the only reason I was here was to protect my friends, and I wasn't doing a very good job right now. _But... Athrun is a friend too, isn't he?Why him of all people?_

"What are you doing with the Earth Forces? Why are you siding with the Naturals? Tell me!" Athrun pushed. As he spoke something in me snapped, I was _not_ part of the Earth Forces, why would he think that? _I guess it does kinda seem that way though... _I thought after.

"I am not part of the Earth Forces. But people I know are on that ship, they're all good friends of mine. Besides, what are you doing with ZAFT? Why'd you get involved with the war? You used to tell me you hated the whole idea of war, so why did you attack Heliopolis?" I replied, finally breaking my silence in a rush. As I spoke Athrun seemed to flinch when I mentioned him joining ZAFT, but I couldn't be too sure.

"Because that's where the naturals built these things, they turned it into a target." Athrun replied heatedly.

Anger rose in me, most of the people on Heliopolis had no idea these things were being built. That was hardly fair! A smaller part of my mind realized that he had skipped most of my questions.

"But Heliopolis is neutral, and so am I." I countered angrily "Yet you..." I was interrupted by warning scanners going off, some one was firing at me! I quickly dodged...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

I watched in surprise as the Duel began firing at Kira, one part of me wanted to stop Yzak and tear him to peaces for trying to hurt Kira... But I couldn't, not without throwing everything away.

"Your not fighting Athrun, Why not?" Yzak's voice cut through my com, venom in his voice. I distantly heard Kira mutter; _X102 Duel, that one too?_. I didn't think he was even aware that I could still hear him. I realize a bit late that I never answered Yzak, so I just left it and watched with conflicting emotions as the Duel continued to fire at the Strike; who kept dodging effectively or using its shield to deflect ones that couldn't be dodged. I also took note that the Blitz and Buster were still working at the Archangel, which was very well equipped.

Again Yzak's voice cut through my com, this time not directed at me though; "Grrr. That coward! All he can do is dodge!"

Things continued that way for a while longer before the Strike began returning fire. _Kira... _I thought _You really have no clue do you? Yet even with no battle experience you are doing well... _It was obvious that Kira didn't want to fight and that it took a lot of will power for him to return fire. Again I was left with conflicting emotions, I wanted so bad to make Kira understand and keep him from harm. Why did he have to be so stubborn?

"Dammit, Dammit. Dammit!" Kira muttered to no one. I still couldn't bring my self to intervene, if I helped Yzak, Kira didn't stand a chance and if I helped Kira in anyway I would be considered a traitor. _What the hell can I do? _I though furiously, if only I could convince him, _Or even capture him_ I added as an after thought.

I continued to watch as Yzak gave up his gun in favor for a sword and began another relentless attack on the Strike, who blocked with its shield or dodged. Yzak gave a cry of anger; he has never been good at controlling his temper, and now was no exception.

I was so intent on watching the events between Yzak and Kira that I never noticed the Blitz and Buster approach.

"Athrun, Yzak, what are you guys doing? Lets surround him!" Dearka said to all of us. _Not good!_ My mind was racing, how could Kira match all of them?

"Dearka!" I said, I wasn't even sure if he heard or not.

"Athrun!" Nicol's voice broke through my frantic train of thought. _Maybe... Maybe its for the best if its done quickly..._ I thought.

I decided not to respond, I just couldn't trust my voice right now. I was thankfully spared having to respond by a message appearing on my screen. My happiness was soon devoured by disbelief and shock.

"The Vesalius was HIT?" Yzak yelled.

"How?" Nicol said in unison.

"They're ordering us to retreat?" Dearka stated with obvious disbelief.

I was just pondering how the Vesalius had been hit since it had hung back to prepare a long range attack, and also wondering what to do about Kira, when the powerful low hingrins from the Archangel were fired in the direction of the Vesalius. _No!_ Was all I thought.

"Oh Shit!" Yzak exclaimed. I was glad when the Vesalius dodged the attack, but it was obvious that it had sustained a lot of damage. Another surprise came in the form of return flares from the Archangel, and a muted _Huh?_ From Kira

For a moment relief replaced all other emotions, maybe Kira can be convinced another time. However that thought was soon shattered;

"A return signal? He's not going going to! Not if I can help it!" Yzak shouted, fury all through his voice.

"Yzak! We've been ordered to retreat!" I said finally finding my voice again.

"Keep your mouth shut you coward!" Yzak spat, _This is not good, Yzak is to worked up._ I watched again as the Duel continued its assault on the Strike, soon the Blitz and Buster joined in too.

"Dam! This is ridiculous!" Kira shouted in frustration. "Huh? Outta power! Uh no way, my armor!" he said his voice going from frustrated to a mix of fear and desperation. I watched in mute horror as the Strike's phase shift powered down and Yzak moved into attack the now weakened Strike with a triumphant "I've gotcha!".

I had to think fast; the only think Kira could do was fly now, he had no weapons, and practically no protection. I looked around my cockpit, as if my answer would be there. _That's it! _I thought when an idea hit me. I just hoped I could get there in time...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

_No! This couldn't be happening! I don't want to die, not like this... _I was terrified, the Duel was closing in and I had no way of getting back to the ship. So I done the only think I could think of; I put my head in my hands and clamped my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. Not very dignified but oh well..

It never came... I felt an impact rock the Strike and when I looked up I was moving. _What the?_ I thought then I caught sight of one of the monitors; The Aegis had transformed into some kind of mobile armor and had captured me. I heard a voice and realized that it was coming from the intercom, but it was soft and it most certainly wasn't Athrun;

"What are you doing Athrun?" The voice demanded.

"I'm capturing this machine." Athrun replied evenly_. What? _I thought_ No way!_

"What was that? We were told to destroy it, your disobeying orders!" Came the heated response. I had never heard anyone speak with so much venom in their words, who ever this guy was, was not someone to mess with. _He must be the pilot of the Duel _I thought thinking of how the Duel's movements seemed to match the temper of the voice.

"If we have the chance to capture it all the better, now lets go!" Athrun pushed, it was clear that there was no second option in Athrun's opinion.

"Athrun!" The voice yelled again, this time getting no reply "Damn! That bastard!" the unknown speaker continued.

"Athrun! What are you up to?" I asked, unable to bear staying silent any longer.

"I'm taking you to the Gamow." Athrun replied flatly.

_What! The Gamow! _I though, fear again threatened to engulf me, but I pushed that down instead letting my earlier anger to come back.

"Get Serious! I'm not gonna step foot on any ZAFT ship!" I said angrily.

"You are a Coordinator! Your one of us Kira!" Athrun returned, his voice spiking a bit in anger.

"No! I wont join ZAFT!" I replied stubbornly.

"That's enough Kira! Quiet!... Just let me take you, otherwise... Otherwise I'll have no choice but to shoot you..."Athrun said. Even though he was trying to hide it, it was obvious that it hurt him to say that. His pain caused something in me to soften as I understood why he was capturing me instead of letting the others kill me; even against orders.

"Athrun..."

"I already lost my Mum in the Bloody Valentine... So I... huh?" I was shocked at Athrun's words; _I already lost my Mum in the Bloody Valentine..._ His words echoed. I faintly heard sensors going off in the Aegis as shots were fired. La Flaga's voice came through my com;

"Hey Kid!"

"Lieutenant La Flaga!" I replied. Relief flooded through me, I wouldn't have to step foot on the Gamow, I wouldn't have to face Athrun in person...

"Get ready to get outta there, I just gotta get one good hit and he will have no choice but to let you go. They will be sending out the launcher striker pack for you..." La Flaga said in a hurry, while still firing at the Aegis.

"Ok." I said. I got ready, planning to go full speed towards the Archangel.

"Ok this should..." La Flaga started before cutting out.

"La Flaga?" I Asked worried, I began searching for him through the Strikes monitors. When I found him, my heart sank; he was heavily engaged with the Duel and the Buster. _This is not good, the pilot of the Duel alone is relentless, and with the Buster against him as well... He has no chance of getting to me in time._ I realize with rapidly sinking hopes.

I can see the Gamow now, it appears damaged. _Must be Mwu's work_ I muse. The Aegis quickly made its way into the docking bay. All I could think of were my friends on the Archangel. _Why? Why me? Why now?_

"Kid!" La Flaga's voice was like ice cold water splashed on my face, breaking me out of my thoughts

"Y..Yes?" I asked.

"Put a lock on the OS, make it good. Hurry" La Flaga said "... I'll find you, I promise..." He finished in a hurried tone before cutting out.

I quickly began placing the lock, I would only need a few minutes... I worked fast, and managed to complete the lock moments before the Gundam was secured... Now, next task; fear for my life,_ pretty easy _I thought...

* * *

><p><em>I know, I know. Another 'what if' story, you have probably read all the ones out there, but I have to hope my ideas will be a bit different and anyways, its I'm first fan fic so I'm only starting small.<em>

_Please review and tell me what you think. Yes most of it was the same as the original story but I added extra thoughts etc. __**:P**__ and now the story changes..._

_So yeah... Please Review!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, from now on the plot is mine :P. I hope you like it and I am open to any ideas you may have :)**

**And of course, I do not own Gundam Seed, Duh :)**

* * *

><p><em>Note: Ok the plot from now on is mine :P although at some points I may add a touch of the original with a twist. This chapter will probably be a little slow...<em>

**Chapter 2: Friend or Foe?**

_**Mwu La Flaga's POV:**_

I felt like shit... I still couldn't believe that they had the kid. _If only I could have got that shot in sooner then that damn Aegis driver would have had to of released the Strike to defend itself._ I though furiously, slamming my fist into my locker. As soon as the Aegis had safely gotten away the Duel and Buster had backed off... The most I had been able to do was tell the kid to put a lock on the OS, in hopes that they would keep him alive if they couldn't operate the Strike.

"But... Why the _Kid_ of all people! He wasn't even a soldier... Dammit!" I said to my self, still seething. I heard the door open and turned expecting Murrue Ramius, instead I saw the Kid's friends; Miriallia, Sai, Tolle, Kuzzey and Flay all looking at me like I had all the answers. If only they could understand...

"What do you want?" I asked when none of them spoke. I was out of patience right now and didn't want to deal with these games.

"W-What happened?" Mir stuttered "What happened to Kira!" Now that she spoke I saw the pain all over her face, and on the faces of her companions. I regretted my short words before; I was angry that the Kid had been captured, but these five teens where the ones who actually knew Kira, they were his real friends. I didn't know what to say... _How can they understand, unless they find some need for him, Kira is most likely dead..._

"Please Lieutenant La Flaga, what happened to our friend?" The tall one; Sai asked. He was hiding it better than the others, but it was still obvious that he was in pain over his friends capture.

"He was captured by the ZAFT soldiers..." I finally answered. Mir broke down crying and turned to Tolle, Sai looked to be in denial, as did the other girl Flay. "D-Didn't you already know?" I asked in surprise.

"He never even wanted to fight!" Tolle yelled at me, completely ignoring my question. "He always hated war, that was why he stayed in Heliopolis! But... But you... And the other officers just had to push him into this, didn't you? Why? Why him?" My heart clenched and I mentally flinched at his words. _Its true..._ I thought _If we didn't push the him to pilot the Strike he wouldn't be there... But all of us would most likely be dead if he hadn't._

I turned away, not wanting to see the sad looks of the kids before me. I put my arm up against the locker and rested my head on my arm... _Please, be ok Kid..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

"Please Kira, just come out." Athrun coaxed from outside my cockpit. It had been going on like this for a while now. At first there was just soldiers yelling at me to come out with my hands up, but after a while they gave up... Then Athrun began trying. It had been easy to ignore the soldiers; they were being harsh and demanding and I didn't know them. But Athrun... He wasn't being like that, and that made it all the harder to ignore him.

"No." I said stubbornly for about the fifth time.

I heard a groan from Athrun. "Look Kira, don't make this any worse, if you just cooperate you will be fine." He said. Although he couldn't see it, my shoulders finally slumped in defeat. _He's right _I thought _the most I can do right now is try to stay alive._

So I unclasped my seat belt and pressed the button to open the cockpit. Immediately ZAFT soldiers swarmed in and yanked me out. The next thing I knew, my hands were tied behind my back and about 10 guns were pointed at my head.

"Lower your weapons men, he's not going anywhere." Said a cool, calculated voice from behind the soldiers. One by one the men lowered their guns -they obviously didn't trust me- and stood aside revealing a man with blond hair and a strange mask that covered the top half of his face.

"I am Commander Rau Le Creuset, welcome aboard the Gamow. Am I right in assuming you are Kira Yamato?" The man, Le Creuset, asked. There seemed to be something odd in the way he was looking at me then; like I was someone he may know. This seemed strange to me, but I finally decided my mind was playing tricks on me.

"Yes." I said shortly.

"Hmm... Well then, we should probably make you more comfortable." Le Creuset said with a slight mocking tone in his voice. "Athrun, you will escort your friend here to the detention area and watch over him until someone comes to relieve you. Understood?"

Athrun, who had been waiting just of to the side snapped to attention at the sound of his name, then gave a crisp "Yes Sir!" In response to his orders. I mentally groaned. _Why Athrun? He is the last person I want to be stuck alone with right now. _I thought. I made a point of not looking at Athrun as he came over and, grabbing my arm, began leading me to my prison.

We moved in silence; me looking pointedly at the ground, and Athrun no doubt watching me. Soon we came to the detention cells and I was put in the second from back cell. It contained nothing more than a cot for sleeping, a small basin and a toilet.

"If you behave the Commander may let you into one of the proper rooms." Athrun said breaking the silence. "You'll still be guarded of course." He added.

I didn't reply and instead went and lay down on the cot, facing the wall. Again there was a long stretch of silence between Athrun and I, my mind began to wander; I began wondering what my friends were doing right now. I wondered whether La Flaga would ever be able to make good on his promise and find me. _Probably not..._ I thought dismayed.

"Kira?.." Athrun asked. I again ignored him. Athrun sighed and tried again;

"Look, Kira. I had to bring you in; Yzak would have killed you otherwise... I... I couldn't let that happen... Anyway they were only using you!... Kira... Kira, answer me!" He yelled.

After a few more seconds I turned to face him, I kept my face as blank as I could. Athrun visibly flinched, even though I was angry and scared I hated making Athrun feel bad, if I were in his place I probably would have done the same. But rational thought wasn't really with me now; my resolve faltered when I looked at him, my eyes filling with tears. I quickly turned back.

"Kira..." Athrun muttered, trailing off...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

As I watched Kira's back, I found my self wishing that he would scream at me, or at least talk to me _He never was one to make a scene _I thought sadly, but his blank face was the worst. I could understand that he would feel betrayed and scared, but it seemed worse than that. _Why? _I wondered. I decided to try once more to get him to talk;

"Kira, please talk to me. I'm sorry, but I have no regrets about capturing you... It would have been easier if you had just come along willingly though." I said softly, trying to explain myself. I instantly regretted the words, _What the hell was that? _I scolded myself _Way to go Athrun, that probably just made things worse!_ While growling at myself I almost missed his reply;

"Do you even know why I fought? Did you even listen to me when I tried to explain it to you when we were out there." Kira said softly, so softly that even when I payed full attention it was hard to hear. I began racking my brain, trying to remember what he had said. "_But people I know are on that ship, they're all good friends of mine!"_ Those had been his words. Had he really fought just to save a few naturals that were probably just using him?

"Yes, I remember." I answered. "But I didn't understand either." I continued, hoping to keep him talking.

"How could you not understand?" He asked, I stayed silent and eventually he continued; "They have been my friends since I moved there. I never told them I was a coordinator, but they found out when all of this started. We were in the company of some soldiers at the time, soldiers who trained their guns on me as soon as they heard, but Tolle... He jumped in between me and the soldiers and stood up for me. Tolle, Mir, Sai, Kuzzey, even Flay, they all accepted me for who I was..."

"Kira... " I didn't know what to say so I just trailed off in silence.

"That's why I fought. I fought to protect those who protected me. They even volunteered to help out on the command deck to help me... At first I was going to refuse, but I soon found out that they would most likely be killed otherwise, and if they died it would have been my fault..." Kira continued, my heart twisted as he spoke, I could understand what he was saying. _But I had to do it... If I didn't he would be dead _I told myself.

"Kira. I understand now. But I still had to do it, they would have been worse off if you had died anyway..." I said trying to reassure him. Finally he looked at me; not with the same blank look as before, but an open one.

"I know." He said "But, I cant help but feel that I let them down..."

_Kira..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

"You called for me Sir?" Athrun said from the door.

"Yes, come in Athrun." I replied curtly "And close the door behind you, if you please."

I heard the door slide shut, and turned to face Athrun. The boy seemed quite calm; this surprised me, I had thought he would be a bit more distressed over the imprisonment of his childhood friend. _Interesting, I wonder how he will take the news _ I wondered.

"Well Athrun, it appears your friend is a remarkable individual." I said casually.

"A remarkable individual Sir?" He asked, I could tell he was curious as to my meaning.

"Yes. It appears your friend has found a way to stop us from using the Strike." I informed him.

"What? How?... Sir" Athrun said, both surprise and fear temporarily showing on his face before he regained his composure.

"He had put a multiple layered lock on the OS, one that, amazingly, we can not decipher." I continued.

"W-What will you do Sir?" Athrun asked. I could see my plan may yet work. I knew that Athrun had only forcibly captured his friend to avoid his friends death. Now I wondered just how far Athrun will go to keep his friend safe.

"Well, that is why I called you in Athrun. I need to know of any weaknesses your friend has that we could exploit to get him to unlock the machine." I said in a compassionate voice, hoping to push the boy to give me what I needed. "That way, hopefully no harm will come to him. I really would prefer not to have to force him to do it through other means..." I trailed off.

I could see the wheels turning in Athrun's head. He was most likely wondering how far he could go in this to keep everyone happy. Or at least keep his friend from harm.

"Well?" I pushed.

"He... His main weakness would be his friends aboard the Archangel." The boy said.

"Interesting." I mused. "Perhaps we may come to a compromise after all. You may leave now Athrun." I finished.

"Yes Sir." I watched as he left, then begun thinking of the most effective way of _persuading_ our little guest to cooperate.

"Hmm, this will be amusing." I said to no one in particular.

* * *

><p><em>Ok, so that's chapter 2. Its a slow one, but its necessary for future events and occurrences :P<em>

_Please review and tell me what you think, or if you have any suggestions I will be happy to hear them. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Well after the last slow chapter, I want to make this one a bit more interesting. :P**

_Note: Well 3__rd__ chapter and going strong. This one will be more focused on events unfolding in (and around) the Archangel...Hope you all like it :)_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Do we have a deal?<strong>

_**Murrue Ramius's POV:**_

I couldn't sleep. I had finally gotten some time to myself to rest, but all I could think about was Kira; How had we lost him? I was pretty sure that most, if not all, of the people who knew Kira were thinking the same thing; Why him? I rolled over -not for the first time- but my much needed sleep continued to elude me. My mind was running in circles and I couldn't do a damn thing to slow it down.

I heard the door slide open behind me and turned to see Mwu standing in the door way. I sat up and looked at him.

"Um.. May I come in?" Mwu asked, devoid of his usual joking manner.

"Of course." I replied, I waited for him to come in and close the door behind him before continuing "Is there something you need Mwu?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want to know what his chances are..." He replied. There was no need to elaborate on who _he_ was. I thought about it for a moment, but I realized pretty soon that I had already thought about it... a lot. I was also kind of surprised that he was asking me in the first place; he had a hell of a lot more battle experience than I did.

"I.. Don't really know Mwu. I guess that if he plays his cards right he might be alright." I said trying to be positive. But I had a feeling that locking the OS wouldn't play to well with the enemy. Part of me had hated that Mwu had told him to lock it; it could go two ways; one they would keep him alive and try to force him to unlock it, or they would kill him for refusing. I didn't like either one.

"Is there a chance we could rescue him?" He replied, a strange gleam in his eye.

"No. Not while we still have so much to lose." I said, my soldier side kicking in. In my mind though, it was a different story; I wanted nothing more than to go and attempt a rescue.

"He was just a kid... One that didn't even want to fight. It just doesn't seem right letting him go like this Murrue." Mwu said, I realized when he dropped my _captain_ title just how much this affected him, just how much he blamed himself for Kira's capture.

"Mwu. It wasn't your fault, he may be a kid but he is smart. He knew the consequences when he got into the cockpit of the Strike." I said trying to console the blond man in front of me.

"Not my fault?" Mwu yelled, showing a side that was very rare for him. "Christ, I practically told the kid that everyone would die if he didn't help! He may have an idea but he doesn't _know_ anything about war! Even his friends blame me... Blame us..." He continued, I was shocked at the last bit.

"Mwu..." I said.

"We have to do something, anything!" Mwu pleaded. The hurt on his face was enough to bring tears to my eyes, I had worked to suppress the tears since they got Kira, but now, with Mwu losing it like this I couldn't help it. Soon the area around me had little droplets of water. I could no longer begin to comprehend what Mwu was still yelling, and the next thing I knew I threw my self into his arms. This surprised him and after some hesitation he wrapped his arms around me.

"I don't like it any more than you do. Believe me, I really hate it." I said into his chest.

We stayed like this for a while; just taking comfort from each other, I soon got my emotions under control and just stayed there listening to the now steady beat of Mwu's heart.

"Murrue?" He asked finally breaking the silence.

"Yes?" I replied

"I'm sorry, I had no right to yell at you like that." He continued.

I was about to reply when the alarms begun sounding. Fear raced through me. _Are we under attack again? _I thought. I quickly detached myself from Mwu's arms and headed for the bridge without another word.

"What's happening?" I demanded as soon as I came through the door to the bridge.

"Three of the stolen G-weapons have just launched and are coming at us." Lieutenant Badgiruel said. "What should we do captain?"

"Well we have no choice but to fight... Where are the others?" I asked, noticing the lack of crew as I was taking my seat.

"The Kids? I haven't seen them since..."

"Were here!" Miriallia said, as all of the volunteers came in and headed for their seats. I was glad they had shown up, they took Kira's capture the worst of everyone; I also noticed a strange fire in their eyes. _We might just make soldiers out of them yet_ I thought.

"Prepare to intercept the enemy G-weapons!" I ordered, there was a chorus of _Yes Captains!_ In response.

"Activate the assault cannons, ready the Lohengrin, load korinthos in tubes 13 through 24! Prepare to repel enemy mobile suits!" Lt. Badgiruel snapped.

"Here they come..." I mutter.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mwu's POV:<strong>_

As soon as I was suited up I headed for the docking bay, even without the Kid I would have to fight and just hope it could be enough. _Why attack now?_ I thought, then a alarms began ringing in my head _Could they have already gained control of the Strike? Is this only the first assault? Is Kira even still __alive?_. I had stopped dead still the hall way; paralyzed with fear and just floating. I soon shook it off and made myself concentrate on the task ahead of me. I just had to hope for the best.

I arrived at the docking bay and went straight for the Zero, Murdoch was waiting for me and soon helped me inside, where I strapped in and was loaded to the launch bay.

"Mwu La Flaga; Zero, taking off!" I said.

As soon as I was out of the ship I immediately tried to assess my situation, the odds of me surviving a 3 on 1 contest with the Gundam's was next to nothing. _Oh well..._ I thought. With that I headed to intercept the coming machines, with the hopes of slowing their advance on the Archangel...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Murrue Ramius's POV:<strong>_

My heart clenched when the Zero took off but I knew that he had to fight if we were to have even the slightest chance of making it through this.

"Where are their main ships?" I demanded.

"No silhouette detected, they are keeping a low profile Captain." Someone answered, I was to distracted to really pay attention to the speaker.

"Well, find them!" I ordered.

"Fire anti-beam depth charges!" Lt Badgiruel yelled behind me.

I continued to survey the sortie; La Flaga was doing well, it was clear he was using hit and run tactics with the enemy, but even then he was taking a missive risk. _Kira, we need you!_ I thought, then almost flinched when I remembered that it was because we needed him to protect us that he was MIA in the first place. I tried to keep my thoughts in check as I watched the battle progress...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

"Sir. You asked for the prisoner to be brought to you." A soldier said to Le Creuset. I had been brought to the bridge of the ship, they had deemed that I wouldn't need to be cuffed; as long as I behaved.

"Yes. You may leave now, I'm sure I can handle the boy. But please send Athrun up right away." Le Creuset said, he was facing a blank screen. I realized then that everyone was gone from the deck; even the pilot. This brought on a feeling of uneasiness. Soon after I had talked with Athrun he had been called away, and hadn't returned, so I had spent the last few hours trying to sleep. This proved unsuccessful. All that I had ended up doing was giving my mind free range to think uncontrollably about what would happen to me... and my friends. Now I stood just behind Le Creuset; he seemed to very comfortable with the situation and I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking or what he had planned.

We just stood in silence; I was unwilling to say anything, and he seemed to have no want to speak just yet. After about 5 minutes I began getting restless, and I almost jumped 10 foot into the air when the door suddenly opened and Athrun walked in.

"I apologize for taking so long Sir." He said, saluting to the man's back.

"It is fine Athrun. Now that we are all here, let us begin." Le Creuset said simply, turning around to face us. "Now, Mr. Yamato, I have a small proposition to put forward to you."

I became instantly wary. _Its obviously got something to do with the Strike _I thought. After receiving no answer, Le Creuset continued;

"You see, we have been unable to unlock the OS on your former machine." He said, putting emphasis on '_former machine_'. "It surprises me that you have such skill when you have no military or special training background. First of all I wish to ask one thing; Will you willingly unlock the G-weapon?" He asked. A pang of fear ran through me. _He's probably going to torture me! _I thought frantically. Then I remembered the way Mwu had spoken when he told me to put the lock on the OS in the first place. He had seemed... scared. My small moment of indecision passed;

"No." I replied, making sure to keep all emotion out of my voice. For some reason Le Creuset seemed almost... Pleased with my answer.

"I thought you may say that. So I have already taken the appropriate measures." He said, he floated over to a control panel and pressed a button; it caused a large exterior shutter to open revealing a battle field. At first nothing registered, then I noticed that it was the Duel, Blitz and Buster and they were attacking... The Zero!

"No." I gasped, dropping all attempts at keeping emotion out of my voice.

"Yes." Le Creuset countered. "And after they finish that annoying Mwu La Flaga they will proceed to destroy the Legged ship. That is, unless you prevent that." He was taunting me and I knew it. I also knew that I would take the bait.

"How?" I asked.

"You will agree to unlock the OS on the Strike." He stated simply. "Then they will be ordered to retreat."

I almost said yes instantly, but somehow I knew that I would be letting everyone down. _And how can I trust him to keep his word?_I wondered. My mind was racing as I thought frantically to figure out a way to help my friends and make sure that it lasted. As I watched the battle I thought I could see the Zero darting to and fro. I clenched my fists in anger. _What can I do!_ Suddenly an idea came to mind, I hesitated before voicing it, but soon registered to the fact that it was my best shot.

"Fine." I said, Le Creuset looked extremely pleased. "However, I will not unlock it until my friends are safely off that ship." I continued. The happy expression on Le Creuset's face faltered a little bit. An awkward silence filled the area, confirming that he had no intention on keeping his word.

"Hmm..." Le Creuset muttered as he turned around thinking. "Fine, but after you unlock the OS I cannot guarantee your safety." He said, once again taunting me. For the first time I heard Athrun gasp, I had almost forgotten about him in my distress.

"Fine." I replied, repeating my earlier statement.

Le Creuset nodded then turned to an intercom panel.

"Return to the ship immediately!" He commanded. I let out a sigh of relief and let my shoulders slump. _At least my friends are safe_ I thought, _as long as they're ok, I don't care what happens to me..._

I had expected to be taken back to my cell, but it appeared that the blonde man in front of me had more to say. I also noticed with satisfaction that the 3 Gundam's were returning.

"Now, I see no reason for you to stay in a cell, Mr. Yamato. So you may have a... guarded freedom." Le Creuset said. "Athrun. You will be accompanying Mr. Yamato for the remainder of his stay, Nicol will be staying in a different room for this time to allow for the arrangement."

"Yes Sir!" Athrun said, once again snapping to attention.

"You may go now." Le Creuset said with a dismissal wave of the hand. Athrun touched my shoulder, and I let him lead me from the room. My spirits were at an all time low despite my small victory...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mwu La Flaga's POV:<strong>_

"What, they're leaving?" I said in surprise. "What was the point of attacking -and nearly winning- if your just going to retreat before you finish your job?" The had been so close to finishing me off a few times.

"La Flaga, please do not stress over the issue. It had awarded us time to plan a better strategy. Please return to the ship." Captain Ramius said.

"Yeah ok." I said. Something was really wrong, I could feel it... There was just no way they would give up that easy. _It just doesn't make sense!_ I mentally shouted. I headed back in, as soon as I was out of the Zero I was on my way to the bridge.

"What the hell just happened out there?" I asked "There is no way they would give up for no reason like that!."

"I don't know Mwu. I really don't." Murrue answered. Silence filled the bridge as everyone pondered the possible explanations for the strange behavior.

"Do... Do you think Kira had anything to do with it?" Sai asked from his position in front of a monitor.

"The Kid?" I said. "I don't see how; its not like he can bargain our freedom or something." I finished.

"What did you just say?" Murrue asked, a strange note in her voice.

"Um.. That I didn't see how the Kid could help us..." I answered vaguely.

"No, the other bit!" She snapped back.

"Uh... That its not like he can bargain our... Wait, you don't think?"

"Yes, I do. Could he have been forced to _join_ ZAFT?"

"Damn! I hope not." I spat.

"Kira wouldn't do that!" Tolle shouted, making us all jump from the suddenness of the outburst. "He wouldn't join ZAFT even if they threatened to kill him!"

"Yeah, Kira just isn't like that he hates war." Mir piped in. All of the Kids' friends nodded in agreement. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They may be right, but there was one thing they didn't think of; He might put his own life at risk to refuse, but he wouldn't risk _theirs_.

I just couldn't bring myself to say it, and I could tell that Murrue was the same. Instead I opted for a cheery response;

"Well, lets just hope he didn't then. Lets just focus on getting all these civilians to safety, then we can go after him and bring him home!"

3 hours later and I was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened recently; The capture, no attack for hours, then sending 3 Gundams in an all-out assault which ended in them retreating for no reason...

_Christ I hope your ok Kid, don't do anything stupid for us. _I thought worriedly. Then I began thinking about how much I had come to like the Kid in such a short time; I had seen so many comrades and close friends either fall in combat or be taken hostage, but I had never felt so strongly about them as I did with Kira. _That Kid sure it something_ I mused. It was like they had taken a little brother away from me. And I hated them for it.

And with that thought I fell asleep...

* * *

><p><em>Sorry for the wait for this one, school just came back so I have had less time for writing.<em>

_I hope you liked it. I know there wasn't much of a battle in this one, but don't worry it will get better :)._

_Please review and tell me what you think, a readers feed back always helps to shape the result of the story :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**I would like to thank all the people who have reviewed :). It always help to know what the readers think. So Thank You!**

* * *

><p><em>Note: I'm afraid there is not going to much action in this chapter, but it is a necessary chapter :). I hope you don't mind :)<em>

**Chapter 4: A peaceful 'Once upon a time'**

_**Kira's POV:**_

I followed Athrun with down-cast eyes, deep in thought. I had no clue where we were going, but Athrun had said that I'd like it. Last night I had been told I was no longer being kept in a cell, instead I was now staying with Athrun in his room. This caused a mixed reaction within me; Part of me was happy because despite our 4 year separation and previous fights I still viewed Athrun as a friend, I still felt safe near him. But another part of me was a mix of fear, sadness, and caution; Athrun was with ZAFT, he was one of the ones who caused the destruction of Heliopolis, him and his friends have been trying to destroy the Archangel with my friends on there, and he had brought me here.

And that was only the start of my problems; Le Creuset wanted to me to unlock the Strike, which would mean that they would have yet another killing machine, and he was using my friends against me. The very people I had fought to protect would probably be the reason we failed. I felt guilty, both for letting my friends down by not being strong enough. And for the fact that as soon as they were safe I would have no choice but to hand over the Strike. _Would anyone help me then? _I asked myself. Even though I wasn't technically with the Earth Alliance, they were my only hope. I refused to join ZAFT and I was a _very _long way from any neutral systems.

"Whats wrong Kira?" Athrun asked, the suddenness of someone talking to me made me jump.

"I'm fine..." I said, not making eye contact.

"Kira. Please don't lie to me. I can tell that something is wrong." Athrun replied with an exasperated sigh.

"Ill be alright, I'm just tired." I assured him, still looking anywhere but at him.

"Kira, look at me." Athrun ordered. Reluctantly I obliged, I was faced with Athrun's concern filled eyes. "I know its more than just tiredness... However if you don't want to tell me, I wont force you." Athrun continued walking and I followed. I was a little bit confused by his behavior; something told me that he wanted to push the subject but he didn't.

So we walked in silence for a little longer, winding our way though the halls of the ship. And about two minutes later we stopped in front of a large door.

"Here we are." Athrun said. He opened the door, it seemed to be a locker room of some sort.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"This is where we -the pilots- keep all our personal belonging that we don't have to have in our rooms." He said, sounding like a kind of tour guide I noted with a twinge of amusement. "I have something to show you." He continued, this time I swore I could hear a tinge of nervousness.

"Ok." I said, curious despite myself.

Athrun went in first and I followed close behind. I was now quite curious as what Athrun wanted to show me.

"Take a seat over there." He said pointing to a small cluster of seats at the back of the room. I did so and watched as he went over to a locker -I had to presume it was his- and opened it. He rummaged around for a while before coming over with a box in hand. The box was plain cardboard and only a little bigger than a shoebox.

Athrun sat next to me and placed the box between us. He then opened the lid of the box just enough to fit his hand in. This increased my curiosity, ans I wondered what he had in there that no one was allowed to see. When he removed his hand he had a book of some kind. _That looks kinda familiar..._ I thought, trying to figure out where I had seen it before; it was a simple leather bound book with nothing on the cover. Athrun slowly opened the book and I gasped when I saw what was inside.

"Athrun..." I muttered. In the cover was a photo of Athrun and I when we were younger; we had both just received awards from our lunar prep school, and had been hanging around afternoon celebrating. After seeing that photo I also remembered where I had seen the book before; I was the one who had brought it for Athrun as a birthday present the year before he moved away.

"I-I can't believe you still have this..." I muttered in surprise.

"Yeah... I've been lugging this thing around everywhere." Athrun said in an easy tone of voice...

And so we began, the book was full of various photos of Athrun and I doing a range of different activities. And with each photo a fond memory would arise in my mind. Soon enough we found ourselves laughing and making jokes about what had happened in a particular time of our childhood.

When we were nearing the back of the book a very funny photo of us dressed up for a fancy dress party had us laughing hysterically; we were suppose to have dressed formally, but instead we dressed up as _in_-formally as we could. The photo showed the two of us standing outside the venue, then a series of photos showed us terrorizing the other guests.

"I can't believe you ever talked me into that!" I said after another round of laughing, all of my earlier troubles temporarily forgotten.

"Yeah, and to think we managed to get away with it too." Athrun replied.

"Only, until the next day. I don't think I will ever forget our parents faces." I said

It felt just like those old times again; times when we had been inseparable, and war was just another bad thing you read about in history class, and the worst thing you had to worry about was when your next exam was.

But when Athrun turned the page again, my happiness faded. It was a photo taken the day Athrun had left; It showed Athrun all dressed up ready to go and me standing with Tilly in my hands, we both had tears in our eyes but had continued to smile for this photo anyway. Even though we had thought that we would be seeing each other in the PLANTs in a few months, we had been still been immensely sad.

"I still have her..." I said.

"What? Tilly? Really?" Athrun looked just as surprised as I had felt when I recognized the book.

"Of course, I never let her out of my sight." I said defensively " But... I had to leave her on the Archangel when I fought... I hope the others are looking after her..." And just like that the present time was back around us, our childhood once again in the past. But Athrun and I were closer again -still not as close as we were when the photos were taken, but close-...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

We lapsed into silence again, both in thoughts of the past. I was so surprised that Kira still had Tilly, _Well I guess I shouldn't be _that_ surprised _I thought.

"If only it could have lasted longer..." Kira said, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Peace." He replied "If only it lasted longer..." I didn't like the look in Kira's eye; he looked so sad, it made my heart clench.

"Yeah..." I muttered. "Kira, how did you end up driving the Strike?" I asked. I knew that he had been knocked into the Strike by that Earth Forces officer, but I had never found out how he had ended up as the pilot.

"I didn't want to pilot it..." Kira said slowly "But as we were trying to escape I saw my friends, they were so close to where we were fighting and I thought they were going to die. So I done the only thing I knew how, I re-wrote the OS and fought... But in doing so, it became apparent that I was the only one on board who could pilot it..."

"Why didn't you just reset the OS?" I asked gently not wanting it to sound like an accusation.

"The only other pilot on board is Mwu La Flaga, and he wouldn't fly it. At first I fought it, I kept refusing to fly it... But I soon realized that Mwu couldn't fight alone, and that I couldn't sit by and let my friends get hurt." He continued.

"Kira... I'm sorry. I wish it was anyone but you." I said seriously.

Once again there was silence, I could tell that Kira was deep in thought. _I wonder what your thinking Kira..._ I thought.

"Kira, are ok?" I asked softly.

"Yeah..." He said.

I was about to push the subject, when I heard raised voices outside the door. I quickly put my most treasured possession back into the box and stood up. Kira had stiffened and was now watching the door, I had a feeling that there would be trouble if that was Yzak and they were coming in here.

"Kira. Quickly go over and stand behind those lockers." I said hurriedly and pointed to the back most lockers. Kira quickly obeyed and had just gone out of sight when the door opened. Yzak, Dearka and Nicol walked in. I acted as if I was just heading to my locker to put the box away, and that their arrival was completely unexpected.

"Oh. Hey Athrun." Nicol said cheerily. I had always gotten along with Nicol, and I counted him as a really good friend. Yzak on the other hand was no so happy to see me.

"What the hell are you doing in here? I though you had to watch the prisoner." He spat before I could get so much as a 'hello' in to Nicol.

"Hello Nicol," I said before focusing my attention on Yzak. "And I'm not allowed to have any time to myself?" I replied smoothy. I went back to my locker and placed the box in the back where ot would be safe.

"Hmph. Slacking again I bet." Yzak said rudely.

"Yzak!" Nicol said. "You know Athrun's not like that!" I almost laughed to myself, Nicol -the one who was the kindest of us all- was sticking up for me... again.

"Yeah, whatever." Yzak replied.

"Come on Yzak, just drop it and lets go." Dearka said.

Yzak made sure to give me one more glare before turning on his heels and leaving the room.

"Catch-ya later Athrun." Dearka said before following. Once they were both gone I sighed in relief.

I looked at Nicol, who gave me a sympathetic look and walked over.

"Are you ok?" He asked "You usually put up more of a fight than that."

"I'm fine, just didn't want to get caught up in another fight. Anyway, you know they're not really that bad." I replied. It was true though; even thought Yzak put in a tough act and always spoke with attitude, he was a good guy. Dearka was even nicer, but around Yzak he tended to show his worse side.

"Yeah but still, you..." He said trailing off, at first I didn't understand but when he gasped I realized that he wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking at Kira, who had moved out from behind the lockers.

I could tell that Nicol was trying to work out if Kira was a threat and I almost laughed... almost

"Calm down Nicol, he's with me." I said trying to keep amusement out of my voice. "I thought it would be best if I kept him and Yzak separate after how angry Yzak was."

"Ok... But why is he in _here_?" Nicol asked, still on his guard.

"Well, he isn't a threat for one." I said, I wasn't quite sure how to go about getting Nicol to relax.

"How can you be sure?" Nicol countered. I saw Kira flinch, and I decided that I would have to tell Nicol everything.

"Because..." I started. "Kira and I have been friends since we were little." Nicol now turned to me with wide eyes. This time I couldn't help laughing a little bit, it was a very serious matter but the fact that Nicol could think of Kira as a threat just didn't add up to me.

"W-What?" Nicol stammered.

"We went to the same lunar Prep School." Kira said, speaking up for the first time. I wasn't sure why Kira had stepped out while Nicol was still in the room, but I was kind of glad as well.

With that, I sat Nicol down and told him everything, he listened intently and seemed to take everything in quite well.

"Hmm, well that explains a lot." Nicol said in the end. He was now relaxed, and I was glad. He looked at Kira and said;

"Well, sorry for before." He said "I'm Nicol Amalfi." The two shook hands and I was really happy in that moment. _Maybe, just maybe Kira won't have to feel so alone. _I thought.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

I smiled to myself as I switched off the monitor I had been watching for a while. I had watched as Athrun and Kira Yamato looked through a photo album and laughed away, but that hadn't been what interested me the most. What had interested me was the story of how Yamato had come to pilot the Strike. Then to make things even better Yzak and the others had entered the room, I was pleased to see that Athrun had hidden Yamato from sight, but revealed him to Nicol and then proceeded to tell the whole story of their childhood. This would work well when I put my plan into action.

"Hmm, this may well work better than I had planned." I muttered to myself.

Finally the last few necessary pieces of my plan were coming together, now all I needed was to wait...

* * *

><p><strong>Please forgive the slow chapter, but i wanted to get more into the emotional side, and its things like this that set up future chapters :) Hope you dont mind.<strong>

**Please review**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry it took so long for this one to be posted, but I have been very busy! Nuro-science is very time consuming so I've had very little time for typing. I hope you don't mind :)**

* * *

><p><em>Note; I wish to correct a past mistake, the name of the bird given to Kira by Athrun is names Tori, not Tilly, Sorry about that :)<em>

**Chapter 5: Pain and lost memories.**

_**Kira's POV:**_

"_Hey Kira!" Athrun called from the water. "You getting in or not?"_

"_You bet!" I replied. And with that I jumped into the water, making sure to splash Athrun in the process. We both sat there laughing, until Athrun splashed me. Then we were laughing and splashing each other. Our parents had brought us to the beach for the day and we couldn't be happier. _

_After getting out of the water Athrun and I went and laid on the sand to dry in the warm sun._

"_Hey Kira?" Athrun asked._

"_Hmm." I replied lazily._

"_What do you think we will be doing in 10 years time?" I laughed at the question. _

"_I dunno. I hope that by the time were 16 we will finally have graduated from school.." I said. But another thought struck me; "Do you think we will still be best friends?" I asked worry seeping into my voice. Some times I hated it how I always cried, but I couldn't help it and us not being friends was a very scary thing._

"_What? Kira of course we will be friends! I'll never leave you!" Athrun replied sitting up to look me in the face._

"_Promise?" I asked._

"_Yes." He stated, voice hard..._

"_I'm so sorry Kira..." Athrun said with tears in his eyes. "But Dad got a spot on the council, so we have to go to the PLANTs..."_

_I was sad and distraught over the news._

"_Your leaving?" I burst._

"_Yeah, but we will see each other soon." Athrun said trying to cheer me up. "Don't worry Kira, there will be no war. The PLANTs and Earth will see eye to eye." Athrun handed me a little mechanical bird then. I held it in my hands like it was all that kept me sane._

"_But Athrun..." I started._

"_Don't cry Kira. Anyway you will follow me soon, right?" He asked._

"_Definitely!" I said, trying to stop from crying..._

"_Hey Kira!" Mir called. I looked up from the work I had been going over for professor Koto, seeing her and Tolle coming my way._

"_Hey guys." I said._

"_The prof' sent us to get you, said he has more work for you." Tolle said._

"_What? Again? I haven't even finished going over the stuff he gave me yesterday." I moaned._

_I watched as Tori swooped past and my mind instantly wandered to Athrun; as I remembered the last time I had seen him four years ago._

"_Uhmm, Kira?" Tolle said. I was startled by how close he was and jumped back, whoops, look like I zoned out again. "Come on be better get going." Tolle continued._

"_Yeah, sure." I replied and began getting my stuff together..._

That night as I lay in bed my mind spun... I wanted nothing more than for things to keep getting better between me and Athrun, I was finally getting my childhood friend back. But... There was always the little voice in the back of my mind that kept reminding me of the fact I still had friends to protect on the Archangel and that Athrun was a ZAFT soldier now.

"Why?..." I muttered to myself. _Why does it have to be like this? _I was tired of the confused state I was living in the past few days. I was split between to very different paths with no way of controlling the outcome. I had to protect my friends on the Archangel; there was no doubt in my mind there. But I had no way of insuring their safety in my situation, and to make matters worse there was Athrun Zala; The boy whom I had met as a young kid and been best friends with since then. The boy who had had to leave for the PLANTs four years ago. The friend who gave me Tori as a parting gift. Then we had met on the battle field of all places. He helped destroy my home; Heliopolis. But none-the-less I still viewed him as my best friend, no as more than that; he was family... He was like a brother to me...

_What is the point of war? Why does it have to be so meaningless? _I thought angrily, rolling over yet again. I was really tired and wound up; I had had very little sleep since everything started and it was starting to catch up with me... But when I rolled over I got a surprise; I had thought that Athrun was asleep but when I rolled over I found him sitting on the edge of his bed watching me intently with a concerned look in his eyes.

"You ok?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes... No... I don't know." I answered, not sure myself. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, only centimeters from going over the edge.

"You wana talk about it?" He asked softly. When I looked at him then I saw the boy I had known four years ago, not the trained soldier that he had become. I was taken aback for a moment, this change was just so unexpected. He just looked at me, waiting patiently for me to respond. _He still knows me that well..._ I thought _He still knows when I need time to think._ I sat up before speaking;

"I'm just... Confused, I guess. I hate that everything I do distances me from at lease one of my friends..." I started putting my face in my hands.

"Kira..."

"I just can't stand it! To protect the people I care about, I have to hurt you! And if I just gave up like you want me to, I could never forgive myself!... I just... Want it all to end! Whats the point of all of this?" I burst as silent tears began running down my face into my hands and onto my lap. I had gone over the edge; I was having a breakdown and I hated that fact more than anything.

"Kira...?"

"I don't know what to do Athrun." I said, all my feeling gushing out. "I know that as soon as I unlock the Strike I'm either going to killed for being a _traitor_, or if I am allowed to leave I'll have no where to go; my friends are with the Earth Forces now and I doubt they would take me in if I've given their enemy the Strike..." I knew I was being hysterical but I didn't really care. Right now I felt more alone than ever before; even when Athrun had left for the PLANTs I hadn't felt this bad.

This time no reply came from Athrun, I just sat there, my shoulders shaking as I cried. This lasted several minutes before Athrun spoke again;

"Now you listen here Kira!" He yelled. "I will not let that happen. I won't lose you again...I won't break my promise again..." He finished with a whisper. Suddenly Athrun was holding me; sitting next to me and holding me to his chest. "I promise." He muttered over and over again. I realized then that he was crying too.

"Athrun..." I muttered between sobs.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

"Athrun..." He muttered again.

I had noticed that Kira had been sleeping bad and always looked sad when he thought no one was looking, but I had no clue that it had gotten this bad. It tore me apart to see him like that; he had never been emotionally strong and had always cried a lot but never... Never had I seen him this down.

"It will be alright." I said to him "I wont let anyone harm you. I promise."

When I had left Kira I had always thought that he would be following me to the PLANTs, but that never happened and after Junius 7, I joined the military. Through everything I had never forgotten Kira; every night I would wonder where he was, if he was ok, if he remembered me...

And then I saw him that day when we invaded Heliopolis; standing over that Earth Forces officer. I had been shocked and almost in denial. But then I met him on the battle field; He had claimed he was fighting for his friends, even though they were naturals and at first I had thought it was madness. But after bringing him here and listening to his story I had thought that I understood. But now... Now I wasn't so sure...

"_Athrun!" Kira called._

"_Over here." I replied, waving so he would see me. He ran over with a sad look on his face. "What happened?" I demanded._

_He said nothing but instead raced forward and embraced me; burying his head into my chest. It seemed more and more often that Kira was coming to me like this, so I already had a pretty good idea what had upset him like this; Those stupid coordinator-hating sons-of-a-bitches. _

"_Tell me what happened Kira." I cooed. "Its alright now, they can't taunt you anymore..." I continued..._

We had been sitting together for a while now and I was so lost in thought that I hadn't even noticed that he had fallen asleep in my arms. _He was still so innocent... _I thought as I laid down with him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

When I woke up I was surprised that Athrun was asleep next to me. At first I couldn't understand why, but as my sleep-addled brain began to wake up, I remembered what had happened last night. My first emotion was humiliation; I hated making others sad because of me, and I had done just that to Athrun. But I had found comfort from him as well.

Slowly I got up, careful not to wake Athrun, and headed into the bathroom to wash my face. As I looked into the mirror I thought about what Sai, Tolle, Mir, Kuzzey and Flay were doing. I wondered if they missed me as much as I missed them...

I had just walked out of the bathroom when the alarms began sounding and a message for code red battle stations bellowed through the speakers. Athrun jerked awake, instantly taking everything in. He hurried and got changed and was just heading for the door when he stopped and looked at me.

"Hmm, come on Kira. I can't just leave you here... Ill take you to the bridge, ok?" He said to me. To anyone that didn't know Athrun, they would have thought that last night had never occurred for him. But I could see a strange gleam in his eyes and knew that he remembered every bit.

"Ok.." I replied. I had already gotten changed in the bathroom and I followed Athrun as he ran though the ship to the bridge.

When we entered the bridge everyone was there; all the Gundam pilots, Le Creuset, and all the bridge crew.

"Ah, Athrun. Now that your here we can start." Le Creuset said. "We are under attack from a blue cosmos ship." I noted that there was something strange in his voice but I couldn't identify it.

"Blue Cosmos! What the hell are they doing here?" The pilot named Yzak yelled. I was getting a pretty good idea that this guy wasn't a very friendly person.

"We are not sure." Le Creuset replied calmly "But we do know that we need to take them down."

"Sir! We have multiple contacts! At least 30!." One of the bridge crew yelled. Disbelief through his voice. "Wait... Make that 50 Sir! Its a full scale attack."

_50! But how? There is something wrong here_ I thought. I looked at Athrun and fear ran through me as I realized he would be out there fighting. _They may be good, but 50 is a very big number!_ I was now in my own world; oblivious to what Le Creuset, the pilots and bridge crew were saying. All I could picture was Athrun being destroyed. One thing broke through my thoughts, just a single sentence spoken by Le Creuset;

"We believe that someone has contacted the Blue Cosmos and arranged this..." That one sentence struck a bell, I could tell that the answer was so close, but I couldn't reach it.

All to soon I noticed that all the Gundam pilots were moving towards the door. I watched Athrun turn to follow suit, and then, something in me snapped.

"Wait!" I cried, startling nearly everyone around me. Suddenly I found every pair of eyes in the room on me and I nearly choked, but my mind was no made up; "I want to help!"

"What!" Yzak yelled.

"Kira?" Athrun said at the same time giving me a questioning look. Yzak on the other hand was glaring at me as if his anger alone would incinerate me.

"I.. I can't just sit by and watch Athrun." I said, addressing him and him alone. "Not when the odds are so stacked against you."

"But Kira...-" Athrun started before Yzak interrupted;

"Why the hell would _you_ care!" He yelled advancing on me.

"Yzak!" Le Creuset's voice cut through the air like a knife and stopped Yzak cold. "Hmm, how very interesting." He continued. Trying to read his face was impossible with the mask but I got the feeling that he had wanted me to ask to fight.

_I don't care _I thought fiercely _I can't let Athrun go when the chances of him coming back are so low._ I felt bad about last night; breaking down like I had, but Athrun had been there for me, just like he had when we were younger... I don't know whether it was just for show on his part or the look on my face but Le Creuset finally made up his mind;

"Very well then. You may fight." Le Creuset said simply. "Athrun, go get him suited up."

This time it took Athrun longer than usual to snap to attention; he seemed to be in a daze.

"You can't be serious!" Yzak said. "He's the enemy!"

"Yes Yzak, but he is also a coordinator. In this fight we share a common enemy." Le Creuset said smoothly "'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'" He quoted...

* * *

><p><strong>this is just a lead up to the next chapter, and again I am sorry for the delay in posting it.<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**OK, here is chapter 6. I will have to apologise for the slow updates that will be coming; my laptop recently took some damage, so my computer access was limited. I will try my best to update ASAP.**

**I hope you all like this chapter and a big thanks to all those who have reviewed and subscribed :) **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 6: Betrayed?<strong>

_**Athrun's POV:**_

"What are you thinking Kira?" I asked. I had only just gotten out of the state of shock I was in from Kira's proclamation of wanting to fight, and even more so that the commander was letting him.

"What do you mean?" Kira replied, as oblivious as ever.

"What I mean is that you just said you _wanted_ to fight. What's with that, are you joining ZAFT now?" I demanded my voice a bit harsher that I meant it to be. Kira turned and stared at me from where he was in front of the lockers, he was in the flight suit we had caught him in. He looked shocked and, even a bit hurt. After a minute he turned away from me and stared at the floor.

"No Athrun. I am not joining ZAFT, and I never will. But I will not let you go out if there is only 4 mobile suits against so many enemies." He said, I could tell he was struggling to keep his emotions under control. _Kira… You were never meant to be part of any conflict _I thought sadly as I watched my childhood friend.

"I know Kira, but. The battlefield is no place for you…" I countered softly, letting him know I was not angry with him.

"I swore… I swore to protect my friends Athrun… And that includes you..." He whispered, so softly that I had to strain my ears to hear him. His word echoed in my head and I was filled with both a great sense of joy and a great sense of dread. "And Athrun, I _will_ keep my promise!" Kira continued looking up at me. I was shocked to see the tears in his eyes…

_I watched as my best friend ran up to me once again with tears in his eyes. I knew what had happened… It always happened to him. Always. And as hard as I tried I couldn't seem to catch them doing it to make them stop._

"_It's Ok Kira… I'm here now, they can't touch you." I soothed as the boy ran into my arms, his body shaking as he cried._

"_Why won't they leave me alone?" He yelled._

It's because of who you are Kira _I thought, _your so kind and good hearted that they just want to take that away from you. _This had been going on for a while now, a lot of the naturals from around the area liked to pick on Kira, but they would always do it so that Kira could never prove it. It always made me so mad._

"_Shhh, every things ok now, I won't let them hurt you. I promise, and I _will_ keep my promise."…_

Now looking into Kira's eyes i was reminded of a bond we once shared. _And maybe we still do_ I thought to myself. I had always watched out for Kira, and he watched out for me as well. The boy standing before me was still not a soldier but he was more that some kid too.

"Ok Kira." I said in a light tone. "Let's go, the enemy will not wait forever."...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Murrue's POV:<strong>_

"Ma'am, we have picked up multiple contacts. Unknown." Petty officer Chandra yelled behind me.

"What?" I yelled "How far and who is their target?" I demanded.

"7000 ma'am... But they seem to be holding their position." Chandra replied. "What should we do?"

Hmm, holding position... At that distance? Some thing's_ not right_ I thought.

"Go to level 2 battle stations, get La Flaga up here now. I'm not sure what their objective is, but I want to be ready nonetheless." I said calmly. When i finished speaking an echo of _level 2 battle stations, I repeat; level 2 battle stations_. _And Commander La Flaga to the bridge, Commander LA Flaga to the bridge! _Sounding throughout the halls of the Archangel.

Soon enough Mwu came rushing through the door. I could tell he had been sleeping and i regretted sending out the alarm; Mwu had had very little sleep since Kira got captured, even though he tried to hide it, it was obvious that he blamed himself for Kira's capture. Regardless he wasn't about to risk the lives of more people.

"What's wrong?" He asked, like all of us he feared an attack now more than ever; especially from the Le Creuset team and without Kira we knew the Zero wouldn't stand a chance.

"We have company, however I doubt it's the Le Creuset team, there are just too many for them. That and the contacts are immobile right now; it stands to reason that they would hurry to attack us while we are weak." Is said, hoping to convey that I doubted that we were the target.

"But… who then?" He replied, looking thoroughly confused.

"We are not sure; we are still trying to identify them." I replied…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tolle's POV:<strong>_

"So what do you think will happen?" I asked Mir as we walked back from the command deck. Despite the level 2 battle station alert we were dismissed from the bridge for the time being.

"What do you mean?" She asked back.

"To us… And to Kira…" It had been a silent pact between our group since Kira disappeared that none of us talk about him and my bringing it up cased Mir to gasp slightly. But Kira is my best friend and I wasn't going to stay silent forever.

"I… I don't know…" Mir said awkwardly. I looked over at her, her eyes were downcast and she seemed to have paled.

"Look, Mir, I know its hard but we can't keep pretending like he never existed." I paused for emphasis, allowing my words to sink in before continuing. "Kira isn't dead, and I know he will find a way back to us-"

"How? How do you know that?" Mir screamed, rounding on me with fury evident in all her features. For a moment I was taken aback, Mir was always gentle and seeing her like this nearly broke my heart. through her anger fresh tears were welling.

"Mir... I just know... He is Kira after all." I said, trying to keep my voice light to calm Mir down. Again she looked away, her shoulders shaking with her silent sobs. I took a step forward and closed my arms around her, I began whispering soothing words to her and rubbing her back.

"Hey, you guys ok?" I looked up to see Sai, Kuzzey and Flay standing at the entrance to the corridor we were in. Mir and I had been standing there for a while, I realised.

"Yeah..." I said tentatively looking down at Mir. "We were just talking about... Kira." Much like Mir a few soft gasps were heard at the mention of Kira. I looked at them now, I was getting pretty annoyed with all this no-talking-about-Kira nonsense. And I was about to say as much when an announcement came over the speakers;

_All bridge crew to the deck, immediately, I repeat all bridge crew to the deck immediately!_

"Come on we better get going." Sai said, I looked down at Mir; she had stopped crying now and had a determined look in her eye.

"Yeah, lets go." She said...

* * *

><p><em><strong>La Flaga's POV:<strong>_

"Ma'am we have detected another ship, its a ZAFT vessel, Larasia Class." Chandra said, addressing Murrue.

We had been sitting here watching the events for a while; the new contacts have made no move on their target yet, and -until now- no move had been made against them. As soon as Chandra had sighted the ZAFT vessel I ordered for all hands to the bridge. In following protocol everyone should already be here, but I had allowed the kids to leave for a while.

They now came back in a rush. They all had determined looks on their faces, and somehow it seems they already knew that we had found the ZAFT ship. They all took their positions quickly, no questions asked.

"Keep an eye on the ZAFT ship, and also watch out for any movement from the unknown ships as well." Murrue said simply. I wanted to jump in the Sky Grasper and head out; that ZAFT ship was the one who took Kira, and I hated being here doing nothing while Kira was so close.

I kept my eye on the monitors where we had established a visual, trying to puzzle out who was after who, and why. There was something that looked familiar about the unknown ships, but the distance and lack of light made it impossible to be sure. The ship that held the most of my attention was, of course, the ZAFT ship. I was also surprised that the ships had stayed at such a standstill; it was basically unheard of for ships to stare each other down for this long, and the tension was building.

"ZAFT has launched five mobile suits ma'am." Chandra said, snapping us all out of our musings. "But... but ma'am!"

I turned to look at the man as he addressed Murrue, he looked like he had seen a ghost and was leaning into the screen with a mixed look of fear and surprise on his face. Murrue seemed to take all this in as well.

"What is it Chandra?" She demanded. As she spoke I came to the only conclusion I could think of under the circumstances and turned to the monitors once again, only this time my heart was pounding with fear, fear that was doubled with with Chandra's next words;

"Ma'am... It- Its the Strike! It just launched from the ZAFT ship!"

"What!" Murrue exploded, jumping out of her seat. There was a collective intake of breath from around the bridge, and silence fell. No one wanted to consider the implications of the Strike being deployed. We all turned to the monitors and watched as the battle began. The only ship I watched in the ensuing chaos was the Strike as it darted about the battlefield. The odds were sorely in the strangers advantage, but the five mobile suits as well as a few Ginns were holding them off.

"What...What about Kira?" The voice belonged to Tolle, and it was painfully obvious that he was fighting his emotions over the subject. "Is... Could he- could he be... de-dead?" His voice broke a few times but he ploughed on.

No one answered him, so I was about to but, my eyes were drawn to the battle as I watched the Strike in combat with three of the other ships. Slowly the cold, hard realisation of what I was watching gripped my heart. I was about to say this when someone else spoke up;

"Maybe they just figured out how to unlock the OS, I mean, they wouldn't _kill_ Kira would they? He is a Coordinator after all." Sai as always was trying to think of things in a positive way, and his words of optimism only made what I had to say harder.

"No he is not dead." I said haltingly, any replies to Sai's words fell short. I realised that my voice sounded chocked and hollow, but like Tolle I kept on. "He is alive."

"Mwu..." Murrue started but I raised my hand to silence her.

"Look at the Strike!" I yelled now. "Kira is the one flying it! Just look how it moves, no trained soldier moves like that." I turned as I finished speaking, everyone was looking at me with shocked looks.

Now as they looked from me to the monitor I knew that they could see it too, Kira may have only been flying the Strike Gundam for a small while but it had always been plainly obvious that he flew it his way, that he lacked the training of a soldier.

All the people on the bridge seemed to be coming to the same conclusion, and there was pain written in everyone's eyes. Silent tears were pooling in every one of the Kid's friends...

* * *

><p><strong>Well, what do you think? My Laptop is finally fixed so hopefully I can update more often again :) Well as fast as one can when they have to study neuroscience :)<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think, and once again thank you to all those who have reviewed and added to story to their favourite/subscription list :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**OK here is chapter 7, I will be aiming to update as often as possible to make up for the 2 weeks when my laptop was busted :). I hope you enjoy the coming battle.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 7: The Eye of the Storm<strong>

_**Kira's POV:**_

Everything was just becoming a blur of fast moving shapes and explosions, I was fighting on instinct alone now, simply shooting at all who shot at me and aiming to take them down. One thing I failed to notice until it was to late was the fact that I was slowly being separated from Athrun, slowly being pushed back.

"Damn" I muttered, I began trying to make my way back. This proved harder than I would have thought, the Blue Cosmos pilots were working hard to keep us separated.

"Kira! Your getting to far, come back!" Athrun's voice cut through the com, his breathing was hard and labored.

"Yeah, I know... Its harder that it looks." I replied, dodging more shots then returning fire. A part of me now regretted coming out to fight; I didn't want to kill -even if they were Blue Cosmos- but I had to, for Athrun.

"Hold on. I'll come back you up." Athrun said after a pause.

"No. Its fine, I can handle these." I said quickly, the last thing I wanted to do was end up causing Athrun more trouble.

"Are you sure Kira?" Athrun asked.

"Yes. Just watch your back." I said as I managed to take down two more enemies and pulled away from the rest, tacking this as confirmation of the fact that I could handle it Athrun turned back to his own enemies.

After finally finding a break in the battle I surveyed the destruction around me; Athrun and Nicol were working together to punch though the enemies defenses. The other 2 pilots from Athrun's team were working to protect their flag ship along with a few GINNs. I wasn't sure where Le Creuset was, but I could only guess that he was working as hard as the rest. But the battle was going on too long, with each passing moment we were losing more and more ground.

"Damn!" I yelled after taking yet another hit "Looks like my break is over."

The battle had started over 30 minutes ago, and at first we had been able to hold them at bay. But slowly they had managed to regain the ground they had lost. Now they were working on separating our forces; grouping into groups of 8 to 10 and working to put distance between us so that we couldn't get help.

"Athrun, watch your side!" I yelled noticing one coming up on him from below. At my warning he promptly dodged the attack and dismantled the enemy.

"Thanks." He replied shortly. I returned to watching my own fight and took down another 3, but for each one we take down another two would take their place...

_This doesn't look good _I thought. Once again I found myself being pushed further and further away the others, so I began to make my way slowly back once again, but was shocked when a static transmission reached me;

"K-Kira? Please come in Kira?" Even though the message was hard to decipher I was positive that it was Mir, I began searching for the Archangel but couldn't find it.

"Mir?" I asked.

"Kira! Finally we have been trying to reach you for ages." The message was a lot more clear now, and I guessed that they had zoned in on my position.

"Its good to hear your OK." I said, I had constantly been worried about my friends since I was taken on board the Gamow.

"Yeah you too... Whats going on though? What are you fighting with them?" Even over the com I was sure I could hear the hurt in her voice and I realized how bad this would look.

I had been fighting the whole time I spoke and just got lucky; I managed to take out all but 1 of the ships I was facing.

"Its a long story, but don't worry I haven't joined ZAFT." I said trying to keep my voice light. This last enemy was proving harder to beat than the others, so I was now locked in a fierce duel. After a quick break in the fight I made sure none of the other communications were open before I continued; "Anyway, I'm kinda hoping to escape after the battle. So I'm really glad you contacted me because other wise I would have had no idea where to go."

"That's good to hear Kid." Another voice said.

"Commander La Flaga!" I said overjoyed, I had had no idea if he had made it safely back to the Archangel in the last battle, so I took it as a good sign that he was fine. But my happiness proved to be a mistake, it distracted me momentarily from the battle and I now took a bad hit to the arm of my Gundam and lost my shield.

_Crap! _I thought, mentally scolding myself. I would now have to rely on my phase shift armor and dodging and they would only last so long.

"Who the hell is this guy?" I muttered. After a while I realized that communications with the Archangel had been lost. "Damn." I muttered again.

I now focused all my attention on the enemy, it was painfully obvious that this guy knew how to fly a mobile suit and I vaguely wondered if I would be able to beat him...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

Finally we were getting somewhere; we had now taken down the majority of their forces, and we were starting to push them back again. With well practiced aim I took down 2 more suits and went after a third.

"Wait Athrun! They're retreating!" Nicol said, the happiness of victory coming through loud and clear in his voice. I stopped my pursuit and watched as the return flares shone brightly from their command ship.

"Yeah, you better run!" Yzak snared.

"Yup!" Dearka put in happily. _Always gotta have a say _I thought proudly. It was a big victory for our small force to have held off and defeated the Blue Cosmos scum. I also couldn't help but realize that with Kira on our team we had been almost unstoppable.

With that thought I began looking for Kira, and saw with surprise that he was still engaged further out.

"Kira, you OK?" I asked. I panicked a bit when I got no response, zooming in on one of my monitors I saw that he had sustained some damage and came to the conclusion that his transmission had been knocked out. I began heading over to help but was stopped when Lt Le Creuset's voice came over my com;

"No Athrun, wait. We will see what your friend can do." As always his voice was monotone, and I got the feeling he wouldn't mind if Kira was destroyed.

"But, Sir?" I said.

"No buts Athrun, he wanted to fight, so let him fight." I hated it how he was twisting Kira's words, making it seem like Kira enjoyed fighting. _He is not meant for the battlefield! _I shouted mentally. But I stayed put, watching with fear as Kira and the unknown pilot circled, exchanging shots and dodging.

Once again I was shocked by Kira's skill; it was obvious that the Blue Cosmos pilot was very skilled, yet Kira was holding his own very well.

"Come on Kira... You can beat this guy..." I muttered...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_Dodge. Fire. Dodge again.

My whole body was tense as I fought, trying to gain the upper hand was very hard, it was hard enough to not let him get the upper hand.

Dodge. Return Fire. Dodge again. Try to get behind. Power thrusters to speed up.

Nothing worked, I felt like I was fighting the Duel again; getting no where. I was so wound up in the heat of the battle that I almost cried out when a voice came through my com;

"Give up Kira Yamato! You can not beat me!" The voice was deep and rang with authority. I had thought my com was down since I took damage to my Gundam, but that barely registered. What did register was the fact that he knew my name. I chose to ignore the threat and kept fighting.

Fire. Dodge. Fire again. I kept trying to gain the upper hand, and I kept failing.

"Give up boy!" The voice shouted again. "If you give up peacefully I will spare your friends."

"Who are you?" I demanded back, not trusting my voice past those three works.

"Who I am is unimportant." The voice replied. "You on the other hand are very valuable. If you give up your friends will live."

I didn't like how cocky the voice was; so sure of himself that he thought my friends would die. I quickly spared a glance at my monitor and was shocked to see that the fighting had stopped, I saw the other Gundams watching my duel.

"My friends are safe!" I yelled back.

Fire. Dodge. Fire.

"Ha! So they think, they have no idea of the weapon zoned in on them. Do you think my forces would give up the chance of ridding the world of a few more coordinators like you that easy?" He mocked. "It was planned this way; separate you from the rest and while we were locked in combat my forces would pull away to clear the area for the firing of my weapon should you not surrender."

My mind was racing now, if what he said was true than Athrun was in big trouble, I began trying to get a link through to him; I _had _to warn him. Laughter filled my cockpit from the man I was facing.

"Do you think I would have told you my plan just to have you warn your friend! I think not. There is a jamming device on your mobile suit, only I can get through to you."

_Not good. Not good! _I thought, frantically trying to think of a way to warn them. Then another thought struck me; How did they know I would be fighting? It was a last minute decision for me, so how would they have created a plan based around my involvement.

"How did you know I would be here?" I demanded. All I got an answer was more laughter, devoid of true happiness, just cruelty and the sound of victory.

"You have 60 seconds to surrender Yamato. Or the weapon is fired and your friends are dead." The voice informed me.

Another thought struck me; Friends... but Athrun was my only friend there, maybe Nicol... But I had only just met him so he could hardly count... unless someone had been listening to us all talk. _Something is not right_.

I knew what I had to do in that moment, and I knew it would be hard; I would have to kill this guy and stop him from giving any order.

Suddenly my mind felt clear; I could see the course of action I needed to take, and I knew how to take it. My body was reacting just as quick as my hands as I renewed my attack; only this time he was gaining no ground, but I was. I discarded my gun for my sword and began a frenzy of attacks; one straight after the other, leaving no room for this guy to counter me.

In what seemed like seconds I broke through my opponents defenses and took the chance for the attack that I knew would end it all; I cut the machine in half, right through the cockpit and held my breath as the seconds passed and no weapon fired.

But now I felt horrible; I had just killed a man... somehow I had taken him down in under 60 seconds... I had killed him without flinching, despite everything I couldn't help the tears that rolled down my cheeks.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

I watched as the boys moves came faster and more deadly. Soon the fight was over and the last enemy was dead. I opened a line to the Aegis then;

"Athrun, go and get Mr. Yamato. We do not want him escaping now." I said calmly, making sure to keep my voice monotone.

"Yes Sir." Athrun said, he seemed dazed and I could understand why.

After closing down communications I sat back to survey the wreckage around us. I was pleased that we had only lost minimal casualties for my plan.

"Well Kira Yamato, it seems you are indeed the one." I said to no one.

I watched as the Aegis reached the Strike and began bringing it in. I was sure that Yamato had been planning to escape in the aftermath of the battle and was glad that everything had run smoothly.

"It seems that you and I will need to have a little chat boy." I once again said to myself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>La Flaga's POV:<strong>_

"Damn it!" I yelled as I saw Kira being taken back to that damned ZAFT ship. A small part of me wasn't surprised that Kira had missed his chance to flee; even after such a short time fighting with him I knew how hard it was for him to kill, and after that battle I was sure he was more that stunned.

I was, however, surprised at how he had fought; never before had I seen anyone fight like that, let alone someone with as little experience as the Kid.

"We were so close..." Mir muttered behind me, I turned and saw fresh tears running down her face. I had seen the hope shining in her eyes when she heard the Kid talk and say that he was trying to get back to us. All of them had it.

"Hey, don't be so glum." I said. "If he plays his cards right and can get back into the Strike again he may get back to us." I smiled. She looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Do you think?..." She began, unable to finish.

"I certainly do. He is a smart Kid, and I don't doubt that he will find a way to get back to us." I said cheerfully, I noticed that all of Kira's friends were looking at me with new hope in their eyes. With a small chuckle I decided I like that more than the glares I got when I told them that Kira was piloting the Strike.

"Tell everyone to stand down." Murrue said. "But do not lose that ZAFT ship, now that we know where it is, we may be able to find a way of helping to get Kira out of there."

With that I left, loosing my smile as soon as I was out of sight. Truth be told I was just as sad and angry that we had been so close to Kira as his friends were.

"I swear Kid, we will get you out of there." I swore silently...

* * *

><p><strong>Well, what did you think? I hope the battle scene wasn't too bad, and I hope you like the plot line so far. Well just to be evil I'll have you know that Kira is going to be in for a rough time soon, but for now I will leave you guessing.<strong>

**Please Review and tell me what you think or if you have any ideas :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am sooooo sorry for the long delay in updates, but to say that I have been busy lately would be a massive under-statement. So please forgive me o.o**

**Anyways here is chapter 8, enjoy :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Questions &amp; Confusion<strong>

_**Athrun's POV:**_

As I left the Aegis I couldn't contain the feeling of euphoria over our victory and just how proud of Kira I was. _He was Great! _I thought. I had never thought that Kira could pilot like that, especially since he had had the Gundam for such a short time.

"But I guess he was always special, he could always do amazing things when the time called for it" I muttered to myself as I made my way to the Strike. We were the only two here; Le Creuset and the other pilots would be making sure that Blue Cosmos weren't going to try something.

I had expected Kira to come out of the Strike by now, and for a moment a fear played through me; what if he had been hurt when his Gundam took that damage? Quickening my pace, I reached the Strike and waited for the door to open, knowing that Kira would be able to see me on the monitor. After a moment I knocked on the cockpit hatch and called to Kira;

"Kira. You OK?" When I received no answer I got truly worried.

Reaching around to the outer, override control panel and opened the door. When I looked in I was surprised to see Kira sitting stiff as a board and covered in sweat, he was shaking and breathing hard. I realized instantly that Kira was in shock.

I quickly rushed in and gently began to ease Kira's hands off the controls, all the while saying soothing words. Slowly, very slowly, Kira's breathing slowed, his eyes cleared he began to relax. Eventually his eyes focused on me.

"A-Athrun?" He stuttered, voice weak and shaken.

"Yeah, it's me. Everything's OK now Kira." I cooed and tried to lead him from the cockpit, but he resisted, a fevered look on his face.

"Athrun!. Athrun he... That man. The other pilot he, he-" He began, but I cut in hoping to quell the rising panic in Kira before it started.

"Kira, its fine. He is dead now, he can't hurt anyone." I kept my voice calm but firm.

"No. You don't understand Athrun, he _knew_ me!" Kira yelled. It took a while for his words to sink in, but when they did I felt like I had been slapped in the face. _But... That means some__one on board here would have had to tell blue cosmos... But surely not, I'm just jumping to conclusions... _Then another thought came to me, and left me hoping that Kira had imagined it because of the shock.

"But Kira, none of us could get through to you. So how could that guy have gotten through?" I asked, I hated questioning what Kira was telling me, I knew he wouldn't lie, but I had to take into account that Kira may have been delusional during the battle from the stress of having to end someone's life.

I didn't know how I expected Kira to respond or react, but I did not expect him to push past me, out of the cockpit. I followed, not sure what to do or say. I was surprised when Kira went over to the damaged arm of his Gundam and began picking his way around the damaged area.

"Kira? What are you doing?" I asked perplexed. I got no reply, and settled to wait. Whatever Kira had to say or show, he would do so in his own time.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

_It has to be here, it has to!_I thought getting worried as I looked around the damage of the Strikes shield arm. As I looked the words of the man I faced replayed through my head; _There is a jamming device on your mobile suit, only I can get through to you... _It had to be here, I wasn't hit bad enough any other time for a jamming device.

Then I noticed something that wasn't normal; a small, smooth cylinder. Relief flooded me and I reached our for it, when I got close I realized there was a strange heat coming of the device and decided that it would be foolish to touch it yet.

"There." I said pointing it out to Athrun who had waited -thankfully- patiently. "That was how he blocked you out but kept the link to me."

Athrun moved in when I moved away and looked in at the object I had pointed out. There was an almost alarmed look on his face, along with confusion.

"But... that is..." He started. "That is a ZAFT special forces model..."

I was surprised at the statement and began trying to think back to where the shot had come from, but there had been to much confusion and I wouldn't have been able to tell. I had naturally assumed that it was my opponent that had done the damage, but now that I thought about it I realized that it could have been anyone with all the confusion.

"Are you sure?" I asked, I was calmer now that I had found the jammer and shown Athrun.

"Yes. Its not exactly standard issue but most of us have seen or used one." Athrun explained. "But something like this, here of all places... it's... it's just... impossible."

Suddenly an idea came to mind. I went back into the Gundam, hoping that none of the other pilots would arrive soon.

"Athrun, do the Gundams auto-record all transmissions?" I asked, hoping upon hope that they did.

"No, it can be set to record but most have them disabled for the event of an enemy capturing the machine and getting valuable information." Athrun said, obviously picking up on my line of thinking. My hopes were dashed instantly, but I began working on the OS anyway, looking for _anything _that might back up my story as well as replacing that lock that I had taken down for the battle.

"Kira what did that guy say to you?" Athrun asked a look of concentration on his face.

"Well... he started by demanding that I surrender-" I started.

"Wait! Surrender? Why?" Athrun interrupted surprise and fear filling his face.

"He didn't say why, but he did say this when I asked who he was; '_Who I am is unimportant. You on the other hand are very valuable. If you give up your friends will live.'_... Those were his words... Then he said..." Suddenly fear filled me, and chocked my voice as I remembered the threat of the 'weapon'.

"Kira? What's wrong?" Athrun asked, looking behind him to see if that was where the source of my fear lay. But it wasn't, the source was the enemy, who could still be on the offensive. But something stopped me from voicing my fear, although I'm not sure what.

Giving up on getting an answer Athrun changed his tactic;

"Why do you think they think you are so valuable?" Athrun asked, no pun intended. He was back to the strict soldier Athrun now, and that meant business only, no emotions.

"I have no idea. That very same question has been bugging me for a while now..." I said halfheartedly.

"And how was he going to be a threat to the rest of us if he was the last one on the battle field?" Athrun asked. Again something, some instinct, stopped me from answering. I hated doing this to Athrun but I couldn't be helped...

Thankfully I was spared from answering when the other pilots returned...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Nicol's POV:<strong>_

As we brought our machines in I couldn't help but think about the fight between Kira and the Blue Cosmos guy; It was hard to believe that Kira had actually killed him, Kira was so kindhearted. But that wasn't all that scared me; the way he fought was beyond belief, and I realized with chagrin that anyone of us could have met the same fate.

"Hey Nicol, what the hell are you doing?" Yzak yelled through the com.

"Wha-? Oh- sorry Yzak, what's up?" I said, glad that my helmet would hide the embarrassment that would, no doubt, be showing in my face right now.

"What do you mean _what's__ up_? Get on the damn ship!" Yzak screamed.

_Great, now he's pissed off again _I thought to myself as I guided my ship to the landing deck. As I waked the Blitz to its respective spot I noticed Athrun and Kira by the Strike, they both seemed to be deep in thought and not really saying much. It became clear then that something big was up.

After exiting the Gundam I made my way over to Athrun and Kira, who both turned when they heard me coming.

"Hey Athrun, whats going on?" I asked nodding to both of them in greeting. Athrun shared a quick look with Kira, who shook his head slightly, before replying.

"Not here Nicol." He said, then changed the topic; "It was pretty hectic out there huh?"

"Yeah, sure was. I haven't been in many fights like that before." I replied. Once again I thought of how Kira had beat that guy, and realized that I hadn't even said anything to Kira yet.

"I know right, just think about it; it was really strange..." Athrun said.

"I agree. Oh and Kira, that was some amazing fighting out there, good job." I said happily giving him a big smile. That smile soon faded though; as soon as I mentioned the fighting Kira looked away, a pained expression on his face. _He l__ooks like __he's__ about to cry_ I realized with shock. I looked at Athrun confused and saw the answer there; Kira was upset that he had taken a life.

"I. I'm sorry Kira, I didn't mean…" I said trailing off. Kira looked back up at me, and gave a sad smile.

"It's ok…" He said, although I got the feeling it was the opposite of ok.

"Come on, let's head back to the room. We can talk there." Athrun said.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

Back at Athrun's room, we all sat down on the beds; Nicol on one and Athrun and I on the other. I took comfort from Athrun's presence and was glad he was beside me. Nicol looked uncomfortable and I guessed that it was because of what he said to me.

"So…" I said in an attempt to break the ice. When no one replied I leaned back against the wall and let my mind wander, inevitably that lead to me thinking about the battle again. I soon found myself flooded with unanswered questions; _Why me? How did he even know I was there? Why did he call me valuable? What the hell is happening?_

_Stop Kira! _I mentally chastised myself before I got further. _It will not help to dwell on what I can't change. _As always I found that nagging sense of regret and sadness over the loss of life wrought at my hands… Something in my expression or a movement I wasn't conscious of making must have caused Athrun and Nicol to notice my inner turmoil.

"Kira?" Athrun said softly. "It will be ok. You went out there to help us, all of us know that and we thank you. But… death… on the field is bound to happen in such a large scale fight. And… I'm sorry you had to see that."

Athrun's words went deep, and I knew I would never forget them. I looked up to meet his eyes and let my understanding show, and we both smiled.

"Thanks Athrun." I said, and then I turned to Nicol. "Thank you… Thank you for understanding."

I instantly relief show in Nicol's eyes and knew I had been right in assuming that he felt bad about upsetting me. But with that thought I also knew that I had been weak; I should have been able to hide that pain, but I couldn't, as much as I hated it I was in a war, walking a very thin tightrope between to sides.

It was then that I felt was the right time to tell them the full story of what had been said between the Blue Cosmos guy and me.

"Listen Athrun, that Blue Cosmos guy, he said something important, but I think someone on this ship is also pulling the strings, or else it would have happened already. That guy said-"

Right then the door opened, interrupting the most important thing. I shut my mouth quickly and kept my face blank. But as much as I wanted to I couldn't stop my heart from pounding in fear when Le Creuset walked in.

Both Athrun and Nicol stood up quickly and snapped to attention as Le Creuset walked slowly into the room. I didn't fail to notice that he was watching me closely. Of all the people on the ship I trusted this man the least; he was cunning and manipulative, an bad combination at the best of times.

"Sir?" Athrun queried.

"Yes Athrun?" Le Creuset answered in that same monotone voice as always.

"Can… Can we help you?" I knew that Athrun didn't particularly like Le Creuset, but I knew he trusted him and respected him.

"Well no, not you Athrun. But I would, however, like a little chat with Mr. Yamato." Even though his voice seemed to stay the same I felt a shiver of fear run down my spine.

"What about?" I asked, relieved when I voice came out steady.

"Just a few things Mr. Yamato." Le Creuset said as if only just now realizing I was in the room. _He is playing everyone! _I mentally yelled.

"Surely you can tell me here." I said pleasantly. Both Athrun and Nicol looked just as tense as I felt, the air in the room seemed to crackle in anticipation.

"It would be… more suited in my office." Le Creuset said in a manner that indicated there would be no more discussion. I knew then that I had to go along, I had to keep playing nice to be able to speak with Athrun and Nicol. So with one last look at my friends I followed Le Creuset out of the room…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ok, well first of all, I am really sorry for the looooong delay. And I hope you can all forgive me. I will promise this; I will not stop writing this until it is done :).<strong>_

_**Please tell me what you think, and also if anyone has any ideas or requests for what will happen to Kira I'll be glad to hear them.**_

_**So yeah, please forgive my lateness…**_


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm back again! Hopefully this quick update will make up for long time it took me to post the last one :)**

**Anyway here is chapter 9, I hope you like it!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 9: A worm of Doubt<strong>

_**Kira's POV:**_

As I followed Le Creuset through the halls of the ship I felt like I had left my soul with Athrun; now that I was away from him, my fear re-doubled, as did my suspicion. It just seem like to much of a coincidence that Le Creuset would want to talk to me so soon after the battle. Not only that but the fact that he refused to talk while Athrun was there, -some thing he didn't do previously- only worked against him.

"Well Mr. Yamato, here we are." Le Creuset said as we reached a door, in a part of the ship that was quite removed from the rest. The door opened and he motioned for me to go in before him. Not wanting him to see just how afraid I was, I did.

The room was quite large and held a desk, video communicator, bed, and smaller furnishings that a normal crew member wouldn't have. There were two chairs at the desk and he motioned for me to sit on one as he went and sat on his own -a high backed chair on the main side of the desk-.

We sat in silence for what seemed hours, both watching the other. I was trying to figure out how he fit into all of the recent occurrences, but was getting no where. It was impossible to read Le Creuset behind his ever present mask. Finally after deciding that we had spent long enough in the silence, I spoke first;

"You wanted to talk?" I said flatly. I didn't hate the man, -after all he had allowed me to stay with Athrun- but u certainly did not trust him.

"Yes. I do." He replied simply. "I would like to know what happened out there on the battle field."

There was something strange in the way he spoke, and I got the feeling that he already knew. But I soon shook aside that feeling; Athrun had said that no one could get through to me, and I believed him.

"I fought the enemy." I said.

"Others may not notice it, but I did. You and your opponent spent to long in between sorties to have been just staring each other down Mr. Yamato." He had lost some of that fake pleasantness.

"Why does it matter?" I asked, truly curious.

"It matters because it could hold the key as to why they attacked." Le Creuset had made a valid point, and when he had put it like that, I saw no reason to not answer, but even then I was hesitant.

"He told me... he had a weapon aimed at us." I said, deciding last second not to say that he had ordered me to surrender.

"What else?" Le Creuset said. Now I couldn't understand how he could be so calm; I had just tole him that there had been a weapon aimed at us and he says _What else? _And doesn't even get anyone to check it out.

"U-Um, he said that I should..." I trailed off, it had been a slight movement in his jaw that made me stop. I was like he was trying not to smile...

"Said that you should?..." He prompted.

Now I didn't reply, I sat there watching him. Now more than ever it seemed to me that he had a role in all of this. When he noticed I wasn't going to reply he sighed and quick as lightning his had shot out. His fist hit me square in the jaw and sent me flying from the chair, I hit the ground with a _thump_.

"Look boy, tell me what you know. I think that you have forgotten that you are here as a _prisoner_, not a guest." Le Creuset said simply and he walked over to where I was lying...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

I looked down on the boy, at first it seemed it was going to be easy enough; although it was clear that he did not trust me, it seemed that he was content to believe that I had the crew in mind. I already knew my mistake. The fool of a boy was going to stand up to me and not answer, I was going to have to make sure that that stopped. I needed to boy to be broken. Now as he looked at me with fear evident in those violet eyes, I knew I had made a point.

"Well? Are you going to answer my question?" I asked, making sure to keep my voice smooth. I almost laughed when the boy audibly swallowed.

"He.. He said that I should surrender..." he said, trying pathetically to keep his voice strong. _This boy is no soldier _I thought _I suppose that it had to work that a boy with this much power would be a pacifist._

"Good." I said, now that I knew just how much he knew, I decided that it was time to make this boys life more... interesting.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

"I hope he's ok..." I muttered as I paced my room. "He had been in there too long..."

"Athrun!" Nicol said firmly. "Stop worrying, I'm sure he's fine." Nicol had been sitting, watching me pace for the last ten minutes. I stopped, reluctantly, and sat down sighing.

"I know I just hate it that I'm not there with him... He was so distraught after the battle, and now he is with the commander." I said, remembering how it was always me that Kira would run to when he was upset, he would even go to me before his mum.

"You two are really close aren't you?" Nicol asked, I had the feeling that he was trying to distract me and I was grateful for it.

"Yeah. Ever since we meet as little kids at the Lunar Prep School..." I said remembering a day that seemed like a life time ago...

"_Muuuuuum!" I cried. "I'll don't want you to go..."_

"_I know sweetie, but I have to go. I'm sure you will find some friends in no time." Mum said soothingly._

_I looked doubtfully around the classroom; everywhere there were kids playing happily. But I still didn't want mum to leave._

"_Please!" I begged. Mum gave me a stern look, but then I saw the door open and a lady walked in with a boy in tow. The boy had his head down and was shuffling his feet. _He looks sad _I thought. I walked over to the boy and crouched down to look at him in the face; I was meet with big violet eyes. The boy started and jumped back._

"_Hi, I'm Athrun!" I said. "Athrun Zala." The boy looked embarrassed and shy so I smiled and waited for him to reply._

"_K..Kira, Kira Yamato..." The boy -Kira- said quietly. I decided then that I liked him, I reached out and grabbed his hand._

"_Come on, lets go play!" I said dragging him along. I looked back and was happy to see a small smile on Kira's face..._

"Athrun, are you ok?" Nicol's said, breaking me out of the memory.

"Yeah..." I replied "I was just thinking. Kira hasn't changed a bit, even though he tries to hide it."

"Hide it? Hide what?" Nicol asked, not understanding.

"He hides how he feels, so that those around him wont worry." I explained. "I could tell as soon as I saw him in the cockpit that he was devastated at the idea of killing someone...Kira... Isn't meant for the life of a soldier."

"Oh." Was all Nicol said before we lapsed into silence again...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

"What..." I gasped. Le Creuset's words replayed in my mind; _Then it's your fault, your fault they attacked. _Could it be true? Could it be because of him that Blue Cosmos attacked.

"If they were after you Mr. Yamato, then it is your fault that the crew of this ship was endangered. You cannot go unpunished for this. As I said before; you are not a guest here, so you will be treated accordingly." Le Creuset said calmly, looking down at me. I had tried to get up once and had earned a sharp kick to the stomach.

"But... I-I didn't know." I said distraught. _What if something had happened to Athrun... Because of me!_I thought.

"And if Athrun or any of his team were harmed?" Le Creuset said as though reading my mind.

"Please, it's not my fault..." I said, feeling the tears slowly begin to run down my cheeks. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, this whole time I had blamed someone on this ship for setting me up, but now... I was the reason they had come... _But why?_

"Why did they want me?" I asked quietly, voicing the last thing that could possibly help allay my fears. I wasn't sure why I asked him though. But I soon wished I hadn't; he smiled -a rather creepy thing that sent shivers down ones spine- before speaking.

"Oh dear, dear boy. Do you know nothing of even yourself?"...

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that its a bit shorter than usual, but I kinda thought that it was better ending it there than to continue. <strong>

**So what did you think? Please review and tell me :) ill also be glad to hear any suggestions **

_**IgNighted- Thanks for the review! Its always nice to know how you feel. Also thanks for sticking around so far**_


	10. Chapter 10

**OK, so I finally got around to chapter 10, haha but now it seems like im in a race with my friend and fellow fanfic writer, who is up and coming with a bigtime rush story... **

**Anyway, so back to _this_ story :) hope you like it.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 10: New Found Fear.<strong>

_**Mwu's POV:**_

"I'm worried Murrue, we haven't heard anything in over a week and their ship has just sat there the whole time..." I said, we had been sitting idle since the battle and our hopes of waiting for Kira to get to us were dwindling; we were low on food and water, the civilians that Kira picked up were getting angry and our ship needed maintenance that we couldn't do without the proper equipment.

"I know Mwu, but what can we do? If we don't hear from Kira within the next day or two we will... We will have to move on..." Murrue replied with obvious sadness. She looked tired; both psychically and mentally. _I suppose we all do _I thought absently.

Although we had discussed the idea of forcefully trying to get Kira back we had been forced to discard the idea on the terms that, if I were to face the enemy ship alone I would most certainly be defeated, and that would leave the Archangel in major trouble.

"Arghhhh! I hate this!" I yelled suddenly, running my hands through my hair in frustration. "I hate not being able to do anything. I hate it that those... those things have Kira, and are doing god knows what to him, and I can't do a damned thing about it!"

"I know Mwu, I feel the same way... But, maybe we will have to wait till we can get that extra advantage. If we can get to Earth and then Alaska, we might get that advantage." Murrue said in an attempt to allay my fears.

But it just raised more problems.

"And then we will run the risk that they wont help Kira because he is a coordinator, or just because they wouldn't see it important enough to save a single boy." I said quite coldly. This time Murrue said nothing, and we both knew that if we didn't get to Kira soon and we were forced to leave, we would lose any definite chance of being there for him when he needed.

We sat in silence for a while, both lost in our own thoughts.

"What will we tell his friends?" Murrue asked suddenly, breaking the silence. A gave vent to a sigh, _of course, another problem. _I thought warily, then thought better, _no not a problem, its not their fault that the kid was caught, and it wasn't their fault that they cared for their friend._

"I'm not sure... But I doubt it will hurt to wait until we can't wait any longer..." I replied, knowing that none of us wanted to see the heart ache on the young faces...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tolle's POV:<strong>_

"No!" I muttered. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, it was just to hard to hear. "We-We are leaving? But we can't!"

I looked around at my friends, each of them mirrored the shock and pain that I felt. It had been nearly 9 days since we made contact with Kira, and that in my opinion was to short a time to consider _leaving_.

"Listen, I know its hard, but we don't have a choice. We are running low on, well, everything. The civilians that Kira brought in are beyond restless, and we need maintenance." Captain Ramius said calmly. I glared at her, and in that moment I realized that I really hated her for suggesting that we leave while Kira was still out there.

"I don't care, if it weren't for Kira those people would still be in space! If it weren't for Kira we would all be long dead or captured! The people of this ship owe Kira everything they have, and you expect us to up and leave!" I yelled. I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder, presumably from Sai, but I shrugged it off.

"Tolle..." Said said softly.

"What?" I said turning on him.

"Nothing..." He said quickly, looking away. I turned back to Captain Ramius, she looked conflicted and a part of me knew that this was a hard decision for her to, but that part was quickly overruled by the rest of me.

"Tolle, I know this is hard and I know that everyone on this ship owes Kira more than they can ever replay, but we need to be strong for the moment that Kira does need us, and if we keep this up we will be weaker than ever." She said.

Her words slowly sank in, and I began to see the truth in her words. I felt a warm hand slide into mine and looked over at Mir, I saw the sadness in her eyes, but I also saw a fierce resolve in there as well. This proved to break through my defenses.

When I looked back at Captain Ramius I found that my voice had failed me so I nodded my understanding as silent tears flowed down my face. Looking around I saw tears on each of my friends faces as well...

Despite the fact that this was probably for the best way to help Kira in the long run, I couldn't help feeling that I was letting him down as well.

_I'm sorry Kira..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

Something was wrong.

Kira hadn't been exactly happy since he had been brought on board our ship, but after he came back from his talk with Le Creuset he has been down right depressed. When I attempted to get him to talk he would always say that he _didn't feel like talking about it_.

I had also noticed that there always seemed to be a soldier close by when ever Kira left the room. Kira's behavior brought back painful memories from when he was first being bullied; then he was always closed mouthed as well, but then it was also plainly obvious what was happening. Now was a different story; Kira had gone from seeming to be almost happy to this closed up person.

"What do you think is happening to him?" I asked Nicol, hoping that he would have the answer. Those hopes were soon dashed.

"I have no idea Athrun, but its not good. My best bet would be that the commander had something to do with it." Nicol said with a shrug of his shoulders. We both knew that commander Le Creuset had something to do with it, but if we tried to confront Kira about it we could never get anything out.

"Yeah, well that's dead obvious." I replied.

We were just walking back from helping with the maintenance of our machines, and was just approaching my door. I noticed that once again there was a soldier a couple of meters past the door. I also noticed with some surprise that Yzak was leaning next to my door.

"Hmm, this could get interesting." I remarked under my breath. Nicol gave a silent nod of assent to the fact.

"Yzak?" I asked when we got closer. Yzak's head snapped up at the sound of his name. _He must be pretty distracted to allow some one to sneak up on him like that _I mused.

"Zala, about time. We need to talk." He said, then looking at Nicol added; "Alone."

Nicol looked to him and I gave him a small nod and a reassuring smile; Yzak had been known to get rather angry, especially at me. But we all knew that Yzak cared deep down and I knew from the look on his face that he had something serious on his mind.

I stopped in front of my door and waited for Nicol to walk further down the hall before turning to address Yzak.

"Not here, the observation deck." Yzak cut in before I could utter a word. I nodded then turned to follow him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yzak's POV:<strong>_

At the observation deck I turned to face Zala.

"Listen Zala, something is up. And your friend is at the middle of it." I said, then continued "So I want to know the story about you two. I want to know why you would risk so much for him."

My words were blunt, but I needed to know. If what I heard was true then I needed to know the depth of what Athrun knew. I saw him hesitate but then he seemed to come to a decision.

"We meet at Lunar Prep School, and we became best friends..." He said, then launched into telling the whole story...

Half an hour later I stood in shock as Athrun finished his story. Even I realized that it must have been beyond hard to face his friend like that, and for a moment I entertained the idea of the same thing happening between Dearka and I but soon discarded the thought.

"So... Now you know..." Athrun said with a rye smile.

It wasn't often that Athrun and I spoke openly, usually we were yelling at each other, but I sensed that the topic of his friend -Kira- was a serious one for him.

"Well, your not going to like this news..." I said, then looked around to make sure that no one would hear before continuing, "But you might want to get your friend out. He could be in some serious trouble..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

I couldn't believe what Yzak had told me, actually I couldn't believe that Yzak had told me at all. But all that aside I realized the predicament I was in. Kira was in trouble, no doubt about that, but now the only solution I could have used was gone.

"Yzak, are you sure?" I asked , hoping that he had been mistaken somehow.

"Yes." Yzak replied shortly. "Look Zala, I can't picture whats going on inside your head. And I most certainly don't care much for your friend... But, what I heard... Its not right, and... I couldn't even begin to guess what I'd do in your position."

If I wasn't so used to hiding emotions I swear my jaw would have touched the floor at Yzak's statement. Never. Never before has Yzak said something so... Well I couldn't find the right word but it was the same none-the-less.

Despite my efforts to hide my surprise, something must have showed to Yzak because he lost that strange open look and replaced it with his usual cynical one.

"Good bye Zala." He said shortly before leaving.

Once I was alone, my mind turned full force to the problem that faced me, and the implications involved. I began making my way to my room, I _had_ to talk to Kira now, what Yzak had said explained a lot but not everything. _And I will have to break some bad news... _I thought sadly.

Arriving at my room I went in. Kira was laying on his bed facing the wall, suddenly I found it hard to concentrate on what I had to say. I didn't want to cause Kira pain in anyway, but I had to do this. I took a deep breath then moved over to sit on the edge of Kira's bed...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

I hear the door open and I heard someone -most likely Athrun- walk in. I didn't move, I hoped that Athrun would think I was sleeping and go about his own things. It was silent after the door closed and I heard Athrun draw in a deep breath before moving over towards me. I felt the bed move and realized that he was now sitting on the edge of the bed behind me.

"Kira?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes?" I said quietly, but I didn't move. I hated ignoring Athrun, but I knew that if I didn't I wouldn't be able to stop myself talking. And if I told Athrun, he would be the one in danger and I could never bring myself to do that to him. So I was very surprised and worried when he spoke next.

"Kira, I know whats going on. Yzak told me." His voice was quiet. I turned to look at him, knowing that my fear would be obvious on my face.

"Kira... I know that the commander has threatened you, and in a way myself. But listen it gets worse, there is more that you don't know..." Athrun said softly, I was both glad and worried that he didn't go into detain about Le Creuset; that had been worrying me for the last few days, but I also knew that it meant that this new news was worse.

"Look, Kira. Yzak over heard the commander talking to someone. Someone from Blue Cosmos. We think he has some plan for you, but we don't know exactly what." He continued, I went to say something, I was shocked at the news and needed to know more, but Athrun continued before I could. "Kira, firstly, I'm so, so sorry. If I had know that bringing you here would be so dangerous I wouldn't have done it, but I couldn't bear the thought of you being killed out there. Now I want to get you out of here, and fast."

I couldn't think of anything to say after hearing that news. I would be free, I could go to my friends, I could make sure they were safe. Then another thought hit me.

"Athrun, what about you?" I asked worried.

"I'll be fine, I plan on making it look like you just escaped... But there is more, and it probably the worst part." Athrun said, now I was really worried; Athrun had a look in his eye that told me the news was not the sort of thing that would make my escape easy.

"But, Athrun, surely if I can just get to the Gundam and get out I could get to the Archangel..." I said, but Athrun was shacking his head before I had even finished.

"That's the thing Kira. The Archangel... its gone..."

"Gone?" I asked, feeling numb.

"It left a couple of hours ago. Kira I'm so sorry."

But I didn't hear anything other than _it left_... 

* * *

><p><strong>I know it's not the best of chapters but I hoped you liked it. <strong>

**Please Review and tell me what you think :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Well, back again. For me this is a pretty cool day. This is the longest story I have written, and my first story I have let others view. So I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me this far. 11 chapters for me is an amazing thing! So thank you all! :)**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 11: Nightmares and Friendship<strong>

**Kira's POV:**

"You left us Kira… Why should we wait for you?" Her voice rang out through the darkness around me. I felt weightless yet extremely burdened at the same time.

"No!" I yelled back, "I didn't leave, I trying to get back!" I yelled back, she had to believe me. I walked forward not, my fear of alienating my friends driving me to walk through the darkness. Without realizing it a light had begun to show, and I could now see my hand.

Then I saw them, they were standing together in the middle of the light, now glowing stronger than before. I began running, feeling an urgency I had never felt so strong before.

"You're a coordinator; of course you don't want to come back!" She said voice like ice. I then watched as they all turned away and began walking.

"No! Mir, Tolle, Sai, Kuzzey! I don't… I didn't… STOP!" I screamed, feeling my world shake. I could no longer see them, and the darkness began to enclose me again, this time feeling physical and truly constricting. I let out a cry of alarm and began thrashing against the darkness…

"KIRA!" The name startled me and I woke with a start, sitting up so quickly I hit my head on the empty bunk above me. I looked around, not registering my surroundings. Slowly Athrun's concerned filled face came into focus, he was still in his bed clothes and his hair was tussled.

"A-Athrun?" I stuttered my throat feeling tight with the after effects of the nightmare.

"Kira…" Athrun sighed, shoulders slumping with relief, "I thought I would never wake you, and then you started thrashing around… Are you ok?"

I looked down at myself, my bed clothes were wrinkled and wet with the same cold sweat that still stuck to my body. The nightmare itself was hard to remember but bits and pieces came back as I concentrated on remembering.

"Yeah…" I said after a while, but my voice was unconvincing even to me. Athrun looked at me with a critical eye. Ever since we had spoken and I had told him everything Le Creuset had said, he had been very protective of me. But to me he was already doing the best thing he could; he was simply here with me when I needed him.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I'm sure," I said with more conviction, "it was just a nightmare. I'm fine now."

"OK then… Just tell me if something is wrong, ok?"

"Yes Athrun." I replied, feeling rather like a chastised kid. I moved to get up and Athrun moved out of the way for me, but not before giving me a questioning look. "Going for a shower." I said.

I quickly gathered some fresh clothes then moved into the small bathroom that connected to the room. Once in there I turned the shower on hot and stripped down. The water was scolding hot when I stepped in, but it done what I had intended and drove out the remaining feeling from the nightmare…

"I will never leave you…" I muttered to myself, "No matter what."…

* * *

><p><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>

"Going for a shower." He said as he got up. I nodded quietly, not even sure if he saw or not and watched as he got some fresh clothes.

After he disappeared into the bathroom I slumped down onto my bed, Kira's nightmares were getting worse. If I'm tired, then how is he…I wondered vaguely.

Despite what he told me, I could tell that these nightmares were talking more than a physical toll on him; every night since he had found out the Archangel had left, I would hear him muttering the same names over and over again. Tolle, Mir, Sai, and Kuzzey.

I lay there for a while pondering how Kira protected his friends even now, even though they were naturals. How does he do it? How can he keep such close friends? I wondered, and not the first time since Kira came aboard I wondered if what we were doing was right.

I was so caught up in thought that I didn't even notice that the shower had stopped until Kira walked out, dressed in loose fitting pants and shirt.

"Feel better?" I asked, more for conversation that anything else.

"Yeah, heaps." He said with a small smile.

"How do you do that?" I blurted before I could stop myself. Kira gave me a questioning look and I realized that it was too late to stop now. "Smile, even when there is no reason to?" I elaborated.

A strange look crossed Kira's face; a mix of amusement and shock... Then he burst out laughing.

"Athrun, try not to look so serious!" He said between laughs. I looked at him, feeling as though my pride had been hurt, and put on a mock angry face.

"Humph. Fine don't answer my question then." I bristled in mock anger.

Kira must have seen through my act because he started laughing even harder, and now I couldn't help but join in. It was strange, it had been so long since I had laughed with Kira, and I immediately found myself wishing for the days when we were younger.

It took some time but eventually we stopped, and sat on our beds breathing heavily from the exertion.

"I don't know what you mean about my smile Athrun, but I haven't laughed that hard since…" Kira said breaking the silence. His abrupt stop worried me but soon he continued –although it was with less happiness in his voice- "Since before all this Gundam trouble."

I looked over at him now, he was looking at the bottom of the bunk above him with a wistful look in his eyes. I wondered if he was remembering the way it used to be with us; always being there for each other, laughing and having fun.

"Do you miss it?" I asked without thinking. It just felt so natural to talk my mind at the moment... Just like I had when we were younger.

"Miss what?" Kira asked, a frown now creasing his forehead.

"The days when we were younger, the way we used to be..." I replied softly while still watching him. His expression smoothed out and returned to that wistful look. _So, he had been thinking about it..._

"Yes, I do." He said quietly, "There have been many times since that I wished I could go back and live them over again..."

His statement caught me off guard, strangely, I had figured that Kira had more or less forgotten about me, even though I had thought of him all the time. I smiled to myself now, despite the distance that had separated us I could see that our friendship still remained strong, all it needed was a spark; a spark that had been ignited when I brought Kira here.

"You know what?" I said, pausing momentarily, "Me too."

Kira looked over at me, and we both smiled. I also knew that we would have to separate again though, and that brought a stab of pain it my heart. I had just gotten him back, but in doing so I had put him in danger, a danger that I could not allow to occur. Even of it meant watching him leave again, I would make sure he was safe...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts...

"Come in." I said coldly. One of my men walked in then, the one I had watching the boy for the past few hours. After making sure that he had closed the door securely he walked over to my desk where I sat.

"Do you have something to report?" I asked, more mildly than before.

"Yes Sir, you asked to be informed of any strange behavior involving Kira Yamato," the man said, he was obviously unnerved standing before me, "Well Sir, there was laughter coming from their room not five minutes ago."

This was surprising, until now the boy had been very withdrawn, even towards Athrun. The fact that they were _laughing _meant that something had changed. And that something may not be very good for my plans.

"Anything else?" I asked the man.

"No Sir." He said simply. I nodded.

"Very well, thank you for that." I replied and made a small gesture towards the door, implying that I wanted him out. He gave a quick salute then smartly turned and walked out.

Once he was done I began pondering the possible implications of Athrun finding out. Over all I was not worried, but my plans worked more on making the boy question himself and throwing himself into doubt. If Athrun was working to contradict that it could be trouble.

"Well boy, yet again you seem to interfering with my plans..." I muttered, "Perhaps it is time to for another talk."

I almost got out of my chair to go retrieve the boy but decided against it. It would be better to wait until last minute to throw the boy into doubt again, that way he wouldn't have the will to resist...

"Only two days left Kira Yamato, enjoy them while you can."...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tolle's POV:<strong>_

I could see Kira. He was crying.

"Kira?" I said tentatively hoping he was ok.

He didn't react ti my voice in any way, he just sat there on his knees with his face in his hands crying. He looked to be in pain.

"Kira?" I repeated, scared now. I could feel my heart beat, it felt like a drum. No not a drum, like a timer to a deadly bomb. I wasn't sure where I got that notion but it somehow rang true in my thoughts.

Still there was no reply. Deciding that maybe he couldn't hear me I began walking towards him, only to see him slide further away.

I stopped abruptly and Kira's movement seemed to stop as well. Something was wrong. Again I began walking and again -without seeming to actually move- Kira seemed further away.

I felt a cold hand grip my heart as I realized that I couldn't reach Kira, I couldn't reach him when he needed me.

I began running. Hoping to outrun whatever was keeping Kira away, but it seemed that as fast as I went Kira was moving away just as fast.

"KIRA!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I ran. I could hear the steady beat of my heart in my ears, drowning out anything else, just a rapid but steady _ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump _that seemed to grow louder with each passing second.

I wasn't sure if he heard or not but he looked up at me. I stopped running, relief flooding through me at the thought of finally getting to him. Only to have that relief replaced with pure terror.

Kira's face was not streaked with tears as one would expect, but _blood._ The vivid red showed out against his skin like a light in the dark.

_Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump_

I could see that his hands were also red with blood. I felt paralyzed.

_Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump_

I was sure he could see me now, I wanted to speak, to tell him it was all OK. But I couldn't find my voice. I felt as though I was falling, falling and expecting the ground to rush up to meet me at any second.

_Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump_

Kira mouthed something to me...

I woke with a violent yell, my chest heaving, face covered in sweat. I was shaking and on the verge of tears.

"What wrong?" Sai said, concern all through his voice.

But I couldn't answer, my mind was spinning. The dream was so vivid, the terror so real. Yet nothing in the dream could compare to the words Kira had mouthed.

_Time is running out..._

* * *

><p><strong>Well, not the most original ending but I hoped you liked it. This chapter seemed to flow out of me. Now I can only hope that the results off all my lead ups are going to be good enough.<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**So here is chapter 12, and as always I really hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: The Desperate Fight Begins<strong>

_**Tolle's POV:**_

_Time is running out..._

Those same words had been plaguing me since I had first watched Kira mouth them in my dream. Somehow I knew they were true, even if we hadn't heard from Kira since the fight well over a week ago. I knew that Kira was in trouble and that he needed us now more than ever. The problem was that no one would believe me.

"_Captain Ramius! Kira is in trouble, we need to leave now!" I yelled._

"_Listen, I know you're worried about Kira. We all are. But a dream is a dream Tolle, and I can't drag all these people back into danger for a hunch that has no ground... I'm sorry." Murrue replied..._

And all the other authoritative figures had agreed with her. Now I sat alone on an observation deck just wishing I could find some way to make them believe me. _Kira is in trouble, I just know it... _I thought dejectedly.

I heard the door open behind me but I didn't turn to see who it was, thinking that it was most likely Sai or Mir coming to try and coax me out again. So I was surprised when I heard Le Flaga speak;

"Are you serious about thinking that Kira is in danger?" He asked, I could tell from the tone of his voice and the fact that he said 'Kira' and not just 'Kid' that he was dead serious.

"Yes." I said shortly. I turned to look at him; his face was a mask of blankness but he stood stiff as if he wanted to jump into action at any second. "Yes." I repeated.

"Good, I had to be sure before I left." La Flaga said and began turning to exit the room.

"Wait!" I said, "'before you leave'?" La Flaga looked at me for a moment before deciding to answer.

"I'm going to find Kira. The people here are safe now and honestly... I feel the same as you." He admitted.

My mind spun, finally someone was going to do something, and finally there was a chance to save Kira. I jumped up; my mind already made and grinned at La Flaga.

"Well we better get going then." I said. He seemed to hesitate, but then a small smile spread across his face.

"You're just like him, yet so different." He muttered, "Fine. I hope I can teach you a thing or two out there."...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yzak's POV:<strong>_

"You're doing WHAT?" I yelled, I couldn't believe how stupid this boy was. How could he even think of trying something so dumb?

"Calm down Yzak." Athrun said putting his hands up defensibly. "You know I have to do this."

I took a deep breath and did try to calm down; despite my initial anger I could understand why Athrun was planning on doing it. _But still... It's a damned suicide mission_.

"Fine Zala." I spat, no use in showing him that I did care, "But why bother telling me?"

Athrun took a deep breath; I could see his thoughts spinning around in his eyes. I began to wonder just how deep Zala's relationship with that Kira boy was.

"Because..." Athrun said hesitating, "I need your help Yzak, and Dearka's too." I couldn't believe it. This more than anything sobered me up, the fact that Zala was openly asking me for help meant that this was major for him. In the last few years that we had known each other there had been very few times when he had asked me for help, and none of them had been easy for him.

"Ok Zala." I replied seriously now, "What do you need us to do?" I already knew that Dearka would help if I was, so there was no need to run off and ask him to help first…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

I was getting worried now; it had been a further two days since my nightmare, and nothing had been thought of yet. Yet Athrun seemed to be disappearing a lot as well, I was starting to feel as though he was avoiding me yet I couldn't figure out why.

So now I was sitting in our room alone again, with nothing to do but think. And I soon found my thoughts drifting to my friends on the Archangel –if they were still on there. _At least they will be safe _I thought sadly, _but what will become of me?_

I'm not sure how long I sat there until the door opened. I looked up, expecting Athrun to have finally returned but instead met the face of Rau Le Creuset. I jumped up, fear racing through me, Le Creuset walked in calmly, closing the door behind him.

"W-What do you want?" I stammered, wishing I could keep my voice steadier. Le Creuset smiled at me, but the smile held no warmth.

"Your time with us is nearly at an end boy." He said, and my heart nearly stopped. _Has he figured out what Athrun is trying to do? Is that why Athrun has been away lately? _I thought with panic.

"W-What?" I said my voice an octave higher than usual. Once again Le Creuset smirked.

"You see, when we spoke last I told you that it was a disappointment that you knew so little about yourself." He said calmly, "Even I know more, but I am not the only one who has looked for you –or thought you were dead for that matter. But Blue Cosmos had spent the best part of 16 years looking too."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, there had to be some sick joke to this. Why would he have looked for me? And how would Blue Cosmos fir into this? I stood there tense and ready to run if need be, even though I was quite sure I couldn't get away. I waited for him to say more but silence surrounded us and it didn't seem as though he wanted to speak first.

After a few more minutes I found that I couldn't stand the silence any longer and decided to speak myself;

"I…I don't understand…" I said. Le Creuset gave a small bark of laughter.

"I expected no more from you boy. But when you are ejected from the ship in 24 hours, I'm sure Blue Cosmos will be plenty happy to explain. Until then the next 24 hours will be mine to torment you." He said blatantly.

I took an involuntary step backwards; fear now clutched my heart like a hand of ice. _Why? Why is this happening again? _I thought remembering the days when I was young and naturals -that would most likely be part of Blue Cosmos now- would attack me because I was a Coordinator. After I had moved to Heliopolis though, that had stopped. Now here, even on a Coordinator ship I was being bullied.

_Athrun where are you? I need you!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

"Hey Nicol! Have you seen the commander?" I asked walking up to Nicol, "I have been looking for him for nearly an hour now and can't find him."

I had been hoping to find the commander to try and get permission to work on the Aegis with Kira. Or in other words, set up an escape chance. Straight after taking to Yzak I had gone to the commanders office to find it empty, and the same on the bridge.

"Oh. Hey Athrun." Nicol said turning to see me walking down the hall towards him, "Afraid not, I last saw him this morning and he seemed quite busy."

_Damn! _I thought angrily. The quicker I can get Kira out the better.

"Ok. Well if you see him, please tell him I am looking for him." I answered a bit crest fallen.

"Sure. Are you going to see Kira?" Nicol asked.

"Yeah, sure am. See ya Nicol."

I have been quite busy a lot lately trying to sort things out and have had to leave Kira alone, I hated that. But I was also purposely not telling him what was going on, so that was no suspicion could fall on him. Before heading back to the room I dropped by the canteen and grabbed some food for the both of us.

"Hey Kira! I got some lunch." I said walking through the door to our room. I was shocked when I saw the state of the room; there were things everywhere, much like a small tornado had ripped through. "Kira!"

I still had no reply and was starting to get really worried. I sat the trays down on the small table near my bed and began picking my way through the mess.

"Kira!" I yelled again, still not getting any response. I stood there trying to figure out what was wrong, and then I heard a small, muffled sob from the bathroom.

I moved over to the door and tried the handle, to find it was locked. I had a bad feeling now as I looked over the room again. I tried knocking the door gently.

"Kira, it's me Athrun… Please open up." I said softly. I got no answer but I heard the telltale click of the lock and opened the door slowly.

"Kira?" I poked my head inside the door to see if he was ok, "Kira!" I yelled, he was sitting huddled in the corner, wide eyed. I came in quickly and moved over to Kira's side, I checked him over and was glad to see that there was no physical harm.

"Kira what happened?" I asked. He looked up at me, he looked scared.

"He-He said they were dead because of me." He said, his voice low, "They left and they are dead…"

"Who?" I pushed, it was hard to make sense of.

"My friends…" He whispered. The naturals, Kira's friends. I knew they meant a lot to Kira and anger flooded through me as I thought of someone putting Kira through this.

"What said that." I asked voice hard. This time Kira didn't answer, instead he just put his head in his hands. I leaned over and embraced him. _It's time to get you out! _I thought fiercely…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Murrue's POV:<strong>_

"They're what!" I yelled.

"They are gone ma'am… They took the two seater and left without authorization…" Chandra said nervously.

I turned away massaging my temples, there was no way this could be happening. We were two days away from safety and now this; Mwu and Tolle both gone. _To find Kira I bet_ I thought bitterly. Yet while I fumed a small part of me was happy, I had been very worried when Tolle had come to me saying that Kira was in trouble. So maybe, just maybe they would bring him back to us.

I turned back to face the crew, the remaining kids seemed worried but not upset, the crew looked as anxious as ever. But that comes with the fact that our last main defense just left. I took a deep breath before speaking.

"Ok, we will have to keep moving. Once the civilians are clear we will come back; now that Mwu is out there they cannot deny us clearance to go after him." I said putting as much conviction in my voice as I could. I was now worried that Mwu's whole career could be in trouble for this stunt. I was also worried that Tolle had gotten into something too big for him to handle.

"Ma'am?" Mir asked softy.

"Yes?"

"Do you think they can get Kira back?" She asked, I knew she was particularly close to Tolle and that it was likely to be hardest for her, but nonetheless she has been keeping a strong stance and seemed to trust Tolle and Mwu.

"I'm not sure." I answered truthfully, "But I can think of no one better to try."

She smiled sadly at me, and then turned to leave. All the kids were only called up to discuss the matter of Mwu's and Tolle's disappearance. So they were not on duty.

"Get some rest ok?" I called after Mir and her friends.

There was a chorus of 'yes ma'ams' and I couldn't help but smile.

"They are all strong kids aren't they?" I said to no one in particular…

* * *

><p><strong>I know, I know, it's a pretty crappy chapter, but I want to move things along a bit. Hopefully the chapters from now on will be better. <strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I guess my story is nearly done, I hope that what I have planned is good and that you will enjoy it but I don't think there will be to many more chapters to go :) I am also going on holiday tomorrow, but I should be able to update :)**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 13: The trials ahead<strong>

_**Kira's POV:  
><strong>_I felt stupid. The way I acted after Le Creuset... It was weak. And the fact that Athrun had seen me like that only made it worse. I was mainly stress but coupled with that nightmare from a few days ago it had struck a nerve, it may have been a lie but the fear behind the words were real enough for me. The thought of truly loosing them for real tore at my heart, I could live with knowing they were alive but not knowing any details about them; I had already proved that when Athrun went to PLANTs and I to Heliopolis.

I shook my head again, trying to dispel the gloom that had settled over my mind. _I can get through this! I _will _keep my friends safe, no matter what! _I told myself. Thinking over all that had happened in the last few months of my life; the destruction of Heliopolis, the first time to had to pilot the GAT X105 Strike Gundam, seeing Athrun there with a knife in his hand, willing to kill. I knew my life would never be as simple as it once was, I would never be able to go back to when things were good.

I looked over at Athrun, who lay asleep after a long night. He looked so peaceful, I smiled wryly, after so long apart it took crazy events like these to renew our friendship. I remembered how Athrun was always protecting me as a younger kid, the way he would fight those who hurt me or even just those who threatened me. Even when the odds were against him. Even now, years later, he was still doing it.

I thought back to the day of the attack on Heliopolis how I had been day dreaming about the last time I had seem Athrun again, when Mir and Tolle had found me saying that the Professor wanted to see me again. The way Tolle had said that there was no chance of an attack because Heliopolis was neutral, then later the tremors and the first charges went off. The panic that filled everyone, the way the building lurched and the distant sound of gun fire.

Now I wondered if it would have been better if I had stayed with my friends instead of chasing after that girl, instead of eventually heading to the military side of the base and seeing the Gundams and the resulting blood shed that their creation had caused. Soon enough I took the thought back, despite everything, I knew there was no going back, and at very least I now had Athrun.

I sighed. _Why is everything so confusing? _I mused. I rolled over once again, trying to get comfortable. Now my thoughts turned to Tori, the little green and yellow bird Athrun had made me as a parting gift. Something I treasured. I hoped that it was ok, that the others were taking good care of it.

"Kira? Whats wrong?" Athrun's voice cut through the silence. I rolled over again to face him; he was laying in his back staring at the ceiling, illuminated softly from the glow in the corridors outside the room.

"Nothing..." I answered softly. "Sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't." He said simply, "It's time." With that he sat up on the edge of his bed and looked at me. I was confused at first but then grasped the meaning of his words. I sat up as well.

"How?" I asked.

"You will see." Athrun said mysteriously, "It will be easier if you don't know to much, that way if we are caught then you can't tell what you don't know."

It almost sounded like Athrun didn't want me to get him in trouble but then I realized that this way he would be able to come up with a cover story quickly and he wouldn't need to worry about me contradicting it.

"Ok then." I said taking a deep breath, "Let's go."...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<br>**_So it was finally time. I looked over at Kira beside me; he was dressed in the pilot suit I captured him in, his face was hard with determination and for the first time -ever I think- I couldn't read any emotion in his eyes. _He really has changed a bit _I wondered.

"Come on..." I said.

We left the room, for the last time and headed towards the launch deck and our Gundams. I adjusted the small bag on my back; it held my few possessions that were dear to me. As we walked I realized that I was sad to be leaving, but Kira would need my help and that meant that I would be arrested if I came back. I shook my head _Now is no time for second thoughts! _I chided.

We stopped before entering the next corridor, this was part of the security route throughout the ship so we had to be careful. Peering around the corner I checked both ways and found it clear, I released a pent up sigh and turned with an encouraging smile to Kira.

"Half-way there." I said.

We quickly crossed the corridor and kept going, I was glad that it was a quiet night and if Yzak was doing what he promised then the control room for the launch deck should be under friendly hands and the last part of our escape should go without a hitch.

"Hey!" The voice rang down the corridor from behind us, "Where do you think you are going?" I spun around cursing. At the cross between corridors stood one of the sentries, but I noted with anger that it wasn't the same one scheduled for this shift. It was one of the two men who had been shadowing Kira the last few days.

I had to think fast; I had to come up with a viable reason, both for us being out so late and in flight suits. _Think Athrun, think! _I yelled mentally.

"Dammit!" Was all I said out loud.

That wasn't destined to be the end of our troubles either, and I was shocked when he drew a gun and took aim... At Kira! Years of training kicked in and I jumped at Kira, knocking him out of the way just as a long bang sounded. The bullet whizzed by close over head.

"Run!" I yelled to Kira. He didn't say anything, didn't question me. He just ran, only slowing to make sure I was following. We rounded the next corner just as another bang echoed throughout the corridors, the bullet hitting the wall near my head causing me to flinch.

"Why is he shooting?" Kira asked quickly.

"I don't know..." I was just as surprised as him when that guy pulled that gun out. I could faintly hear the sounds of pursuit behind us and knew that this guy was bad news. Half the ship must have heard those shots and would come investigating for sure.

As I ran I pulled my bag around after jerking the zip open I reached inside searching, then my hand closed around the cold muzzle of my hand gun. Removing it from my bag, then flinging my bag onto my back again, I expertly cocked the gun and held it ready to return fire. Kira looked around the the sound of the gun cocking with a strange look.

"Don't kill him..." He said after a pause. I nodded in response, but if I needed to, I would.

We were so close to the end of the hall when the next gunshot was fired, it flew just past my cheek and just missed Kira's neck. A stab of fear went through me, we were so close. I turned without breaking stride and aimed in the mans rough direction and pulled off some shots, the reports ringing loud in my ears. I knew I could have hit him then and there, but I didn't because Kira asked me not to.

"Keep going." I said. This time Kira nodded in response and put in a larger burst of speed. We rounded the next corner without incident -the man was most likely expecting to be shot at again so stayed under cover.

I could see the door now, only two corridors down! We were nearly there! I could hear shots behind us now and knew that more people had come to investigate. We put our all and ran flat out for the door. We had just reached the door, all I had to do now was open it.

I quickly hit the switch to allow us entry, and door thankfully sliding open. I smiled to Kira, we had made it! Once inside the door would be locked from the control room, and we would be free to get the Gundams and go. As we moved to go through the door one last gunshot was fired, I grabbed Kira and we both tumbled into the room, as the door slid shut with a hiss.

We sat there panting for a moment, I watched the door hoping that it was successfully locked. After a minute or so there was a loud bang an cursing on the other side of the door, signifying that we were safe for the time being.

"We did it..." I sighed in relief. "We just have to fly away now..." I looked over at Kira and yelped in surprise, he was hunched up holding his shoulder. "Kira!" I knew right away what had happened; that final shot had found its mark.

I quickly moved around him and gently forced him to let me look. Thankfully it wasn't fatal, but it was still a nasty shoulder wound. I grabbed one of my shirts out and quickly tore it into long strips, then I carefully made a bandage around the shoulder. The whole time Kira sat quietly, the only indicator of the pain he was in was the facial expressions he pulled as I bandaged him.

"You gonna be ok?" I asked as I helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, I just want out..." He said giving me a small smile. I was proud of Kira then, he wasn't going to give up!

"Well, come on! We are so close now. As soon as your in the cockpit of the Strike, power it up and get ready to fly."

After Kira gave me a nod, we both moved off; him to the Strike and myself to the Aegis...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

My shoulder hurt like hell, and hanging on to the cable to get into the Strike seemed to aggravate it all the more. Once I was in the cockpit of the Strike I power up, quickly taking down the lock on the OS. I ripped away from the wall and stepped out towards the launch pad with Athrun right behind me.

When everything was all ready, a very unexpected voice came over my intercom;

"Strike, you are clear for launch." It was Yzak Jule, the hot headed pilot of the Duel. I knew he was kinda Athrun's friend but they seemed to fight all the time, and I had come to expect that he would be on Le Creuset's side on the matter. Now I wondered where Nicol and that blonde boy -Dearka- were.

I shook my head to clear it, I was glad that Athrun's team was helping but I didn't have time to ponder it.

"OK. Strike Gundam launching!" I said, more out of habit than necessity.

Soon I was out among the stars. This time I wasn't going out to fight, but to freedom. I made sure Athrun had followed soon after then set my thrusters to maximum letting the stars swallow us from the ZAFT ship.

"We did it Athrun!" I said patching through to Athrun.

"We sure did! But we need to be careful, they will most likely come after us..." Athrun replied, almost sadly.

"Athrun?" I asked tentatively.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Thank you."

We flew on in silence for a while and the further we got the more we relaxed, finally it seemed that something was going to go right! I knew that Athrun was torn about leaving his comrades, but I found that I couldn't regret it because -selfish as it is- it meant that we could stay together. A small beeping on my radar drew my attention and I looked down.

We had company...

* * *

><p><strong>I think this one is kind of... lame, but I hope you like it none-the-less. Haha Cliffhanger!<strong>

**I am really glad with how this story has gone, and I hope to write more after :) I also hope that a lot of you that read this will also keep reading my stories, thank you all so much! **

**So yeah, as usual please Review and tell me what you think. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, here we go; chapter 14! Don't worry to much IgNighted, I'm still here :)**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 14: New Arrivals<strong>

_**Kira's POV:  
><strong>We had company..._

There were two groups of them, one coming from behind us, the other from directly in front of us. This was bad, we could be intercepted quite easily no matter which way we turned. Even though both groups were to far out to identify yet, I had the uncomfortable feeling that one among them was Le Creuset.

I quickly punched a connection through to Athrun. We were technically in the middle of nowhere right now and fighting would drain our power quicker than anything else, I could only hope that Athrun could think of a way out of this.

"Athrun?" I asked, working to keep the anxiety I felt out of my voice.

"I know Kira..." He replied, he sounded deep in thought and I wondered fleetingly if he had an idea. That wonder was, of course, dashed with the next thing he said.

"It looks like we are going to have to fight Kira, the person most likely to be behind us will be Le Creuset. And if we keep running from him, we will just end up playing right into his hands."

"But Athrun..." I said, thinking desperately. _There has to be another way out of this... _"What about the one in front?" I asked, a crazy idea beginning to form in my mind.

The one coming from the front was further away in comparison to the one behind, but I knew that gap would close quickly with the speed we were traveling at.

"I'm not sure about that one, to be so far in front would mean that they would have had to leave _before_ we did, that or they are not from our ZAFT ships..." Athrun mused.

I was watching my monitors closely now, waiting to see if the Strike would recognize the model of machine coming at us, I was pretty sure that even Le Creuset didn't know we were planning an escape so it didn't make sense that any ZAFT crafts had left before us. Aside from that I could think of only two other possibilities, one being very much more likely than the other; the most likely one was a craft from Blue Cosmos, they seemed pretty eager to get me -even if I still didn't understand why- and Le Creuset had also been in contact with them if what he said was true.

The only other one was very _unlikely_ but I couldn't help but hope. Hope that the Archangel had sent someone back for just in case I got out. Hope that they had somehow found out that I was free and heading -hopefully- their way.

This confliction of what was most likely and what I hoped had my heart beating rapidly in my chest as we neared the on coming machine. My mind was racing, and there was a lump the size of a baseball in my throat. I was vaguely aware of Athrun calling my name over the communicator, but speech seemed to be beyond me now as the sensors in the Strike began zeroing in on the unknown ship. I waited for those last few seconds in a mixture of anticipation and dread, each for their own outcomes.

Finally the Strike displayed the answer to my question and I felt bitter hard disappointment as one of the strange GINNs Blue Cosmos had been using was identified. I let out a breath I wasn't aware I had been holding and I set my shoulders with determination. Strangely enough I had the thought that so far nothing had been going how we hoped, but some how we had made everything work.

"Athrun, there is only one in front by my radar. I say we rush him." I said, cutting off whatever he had been saying -although I believe it had been something about how many each of us would have to take down.

"I kno-... Wait what?" He asked surprised.

"Listen Athrun, if we try to fight we wont make it to where we need to go. We need to keep moving while there is still that option left to us." I explained quickly, as I checked the Strikes weaponry systems. "There is only one, even if I am still new to this together we should be able to take him down."

There was a moment of silence from Athrun, and I wondered what was going through his mind. I knew deep down that I was afraid to fight all of them, but even more afraid at the thought of loosing Athrun in the mess of it all.

"Hmm, I guess... If this goes right we should be able to out run them at least..." Athrun said. "Ok Kira lets do it!"

We both rushed the lone GINN when we were close enough, weapons drawn and primed. At first it seemed that the GINN wasn't going to react as all and I thought that maybe our tactic had surprised the pilot. Athrun shot a warning towards the opponent, purposely aiming wide, this spurred the pilot into action. Only the action it took was the opposite from what I was expecting.

Instead of turning and fleeing like I had hoped, the GINN boosted its accelerator and came right at us.

"Athrun?" I asked quickly.

"Take him down!" Athrun replied.

I shook my head ruefully. _This is madness _I thought angrily. But despite my feelings towards fighting I prepared the Strike to intercept the coming enemy and fight in close range combat using the light saber. We met with an explosion of sparks as each of our weapons connected; my sword against his shield, and vice versa.

Athrun tried to get in a quick win by going for the enemies side but the pilot saw it coming and reacted with remarkable speed by disengaging with me and intercepting Athrun's attack. I was painfully aware just how close the larger group was getting, and entertained the idea of side stepping this one and making a getaway.

As Athrun engaged the enemy I quickly explained my idea, he was also aware of how close they were getting and agreed quickly, telling me to get behind this opponent as a feinted attack but then to retreat as soon as his attention was on me, therefore also allowing Athrun to sneak past.

I followed Athrun's instructions and quickly circled the enemy, then when I was behind I raised my sword as thought I might try a power attack. Just like Athrun predicted the enemy reacted by disengaging with Athrun and turning to intercepted me.

With a bit of improvising I stopped my would-be attack mid way, and darted to the side. In the mean time Athrun was darting past on the other side. I quickly turned and we both went to accelerate, but received a shock when the enemy GINN used his thrusters in perfect timing to flip over us and block our path to freedom once again.

"Shit!" I heard Athrun yell "Kira, we have maybe a minute before the others reach us. I can hold this one here... But I want you to go..."

I was surprised at what Athrun was saying, it meant certain defeat for him if he tried to face them all. And that thought was like a knife to the gut for me.

"No Athrun, I wont leave you..." I replied.

"No Kira, its my fault that your here in the first place. If this is what it takes to get you to safety then so be it." If not for the meaning behind Athrun's words and seriousness of the situation I would have laughed at my best friends choice of words. In reality however, laughter was the last thing on my mind.

"No." I said firmly. "I wont lose my best friend again."

There was no time for Athrun to reply then as the larger group caught up. The single GINN that had held us up now retreated to the back. Now for the second time I found myself fighting side by with Athrun against a group that consisted largely of Blue Cosmos. There was, however, one in the group that was not Blue Cosmos. It was Rau Le Creuset. And he was coming towards me like a ticking time bomb...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mwu's POV:<br>**_I had a bad feeling. We were not to far from the last point where we had seen the ZAFT ships, and yet we hadn't been intercepted; all of the larger ZAFT ships tended to have good long-range detectors, so by now we should have been spotted.

Tolle sat in the seat behind me, breath deep and even in sleep. He had tried to stay awake for the whole journey, but his body wasn't cut out for it and with nothing happening he had eventually nodded off. I began wondering how the Kid was doing; I wondered if he was ok, I wondered what had happened to him the last few days.

I remembered seeing him the first time; lined up with his friends after fighting off the ZAFT operatives who had infiltrated the military base on Heliopolis. I remembered how he had been truthful in admitting he was a coordinator when I asked, then stood tall when the few soldiers there had pointed their guns at him. I smiled when I remembered how Tolle had jumped in front of them and demanded that they put their weapons down. The young teenager behind me was a true friend to the Kid, and was willing yet again to face odds way beyond him to help Kira.

The young boy with violet eye, brown hair, and a strong will was now like a brother to me, despite the fact I had only met him weeks ago. It was strange, I mused, how the Kid managed to worm his way into a persons heart, and come to like him so quickly.

I was startled out of my musings by a series of small flashes in the distance. It was still to far for the scanner to pick up, but I was obviously a battle, and a fierce on at that.

"Oi, Tolle!" I yelled, startling the boy from sleep, even though I couldn't see him I was sure he was instantly alert. "I think we found them." I continued in a softer voice.

"Where?" He asked, his voice was filled with a steeled determination and once again I admired the boy behind me.

"Straight ahead." I replied. I heard the rustle of fabric as he moved from his seat to get a better look and then the small intake of breath as he saw the small flashes of light in the distance. The scanners were just starting to pick up the ships on the edge of the battle and began beeping.

"But... If... How can Kira beat all of them? What if we are too late?" He stressed. I shook my head.

"I can't tell from here, but if Kira was already beaten then there wouldn't be any fighting and that looks like a rather fierce battle." I explained. "Now I want you ready on the secondary weapons. It will be confusing for a while after we start so don't panic."

"Ok."

"Listen Tolle, if the Kid...No, if Kira" I corrected, "is in there, we _will _get him out."

"Ok." He repeated behind me, then moved to ready himself for the battle.

I had hoped that we would find Kira out of the ship, but I had also hoped that there would be no major battle. Tolle may have seen battle lately, but seeing and being in a battle are to very different things.

We were closing in on the battle now, the scanners beeping rapid warnings to me; telling me about the multiple contacts in the area. I pushed the irritating sound out of my mind with practice and focused my mind on those I would have to confront. As we neared the heat of the battle a familiar feeling passed over me, and I knew in that instant who one of the enemies flying around out there was.

I flexed my hands on the controls and read the scanner, looking for the Strikes signature. I released a sigh of relief when I saw it; it was engaged with some of the GINNs, and to my shock was fighting side-by-side with the Aegis. I knew I would have to make a link with Kira and find out what was going on, so therefore began working on that as I steered us into the heart of the battle...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

There were explosions all around us as we fought, somehow I had found it in me to fight harder than ever before. But I was also terrified at the thought of killing so many; It didn't matter who came at me, I was able to fend them off. I was glad that Le Creuset hadn't attacked yet, but I had also lost sight of him early in the battle so I was worried that he would try something unexpected.

I could barely keep track of all the ships flying around me now; only the Aegis registered with me, all the others becoming nothing more than dots that needed to be removed. So with that I only just took notice of another lone ship approaching but also promptly decided to leave it for now, knowing that it would make its way here to Athrun or I eventually.

Athrun and I seemed able to read each others minds with the way we moved; it was like we were playing out a production that had been well choreographed and well practiced. We moved from targets to targets, working together -sometimes with rather complex moves- to disable or when necessary destroy them.

I was so caught up with the battle that I almost jumped when the communicator buzzed with an unknown communication. For a moment fear flooded me at the thought of it being Le Creuset, or another Blue Cosmos member. But once again I pushed it aside, and going on a feeling I allowed the connection.

"Kira?" A tentative voice asked. Pure happiness flooded me as I recognized the voice and face of La Flaga.

"La Flaga! You came!" I said, all the while firing off shots with the pistol. "How?..."

On the monitor he shook his head, then another voice came through from the background.

"Kira! You're alive!" It was Tolle, I would know that voice anywhere. I felt my face break out into a smile. I had thought that they had left, and had lost hope of them coming after I saw the Blue Cosmos guy blocking our path.

"Yes." I said, then I came back to reality as my machine shook from an attack from behind. I looked at the scanners and once again felt that icy hand grasp my heart as I saw Le Creuset's machine aiming for me again. "For now..." I added...

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for taking so long to update, I am currently on holidays and have been rather busy with all the awesome activities and the chance to see friends I haven't seen for years, so please don't hate me :). Once again I'm not sure if the battle scene was any good, but I also hope it was better than the last one. <strong>

**So yeah, please review and tell me what you think. :) **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15! I hope this one being put up quicker than the last will allow for my forgiveness :P**

**Also, I think I may have come up with a few more ideas for this story meaning it will be longer than I originally thought. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 15: Challenges<strong>

_**Kira's POV:  
><strong>_Things were going out of control, I couldn't keep up with the volley of attacks being thrown my way by Le Creuset and the Blue Cosmos guys. Athrun was being kept bust with his own enemies, and the Mwu/ Tolle team was doing its best darting about around the larger machines.

The Strike was getting low on energy, and I was sure the Aegis wouldn't be any better. But we still had so many to defeat before we would even have a chance of escape. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it, all the while blocking and trying to retaliate. _This is madness, _I thought furiously, _Why are we even fighting like this? Does it really matter that Athrun and I leave? _There were so many questions without answers bouncing around through my head that it was hard to focus on the battle.

I watched as once again the small machine Mwu was piloting narrowly avoided an attack that would have crippled it, holding my breath until the danger had passed and then having to react quickly to avoid my own demise. Le Creuset seemed determined to at very least disable my Gundam, and kept up a merciless attack.

Some how we would need to come up with some inkling of a plan to survive if we ever wanted to see another day. Once again I was racking my brain for an idea, and once again that critical idea eluded me. Le Creuset came at me hard and fast again, but this time there was a slight break between him and the Blue Cosmos guys and I managed to dodge and return with an attack of my own. My sword came down hard, but Le Creuset wasn't going to be taken down that easily; he moved just that little bit to the side, limiting the amount of damage to a minimal level.

"Damn!" I muttered knowing that I had just missed out on ridding us of a major problem.

Although I was thoroughly disappointed, I found a small relief in the fact that Le Creuset retreated a bit to hover at the edge of the battle. Another three Blue Cosmos took the chance to engage me, but through sheer luck I managed to down them all quite quickly.

I used the small break in battle to retreat to the edge much like Le Creuset, from there I was able to observe the rest of the battle; Athrun was still swamped with attackers with weapons ranging from guns to cannons, and swords to chain weapons. Mwu and Tolle, were swooping around but seemed to take aim for Le Creuset specifically quite a bit. I wondered fleetingly how Mwu knew which was which so easily but quickly dispelled the thought.

Our escape plan was definitely in ruins, and it seemed that we were doomed to be beaten here. It seemed that in trying to help free me, Athrun was doomed to either die here or face the full furry of the Coordinator courts. Mwu and Tolle were probably the only ones with any chance of escaping with the small but fast machine, but I already knew that neither would leave while they still had a breath of life.

I wasn't sure what was in store for myself, would I be captured again by Blue Cosmos or would they decide that whatever they knew about me wasn't important enough after all this trouble. One thing I did know in that moment, was that it was all my fault; it was my fault for being weak that my friends were stuck in this situation, I hadn't had the guts to fight Athrun harder in the battle on the way to Artemis, I hadn't had the guts to stay imprisoned, and had instead made a deal with Le Creuset.

Things seemed to slow down to a crawl as I watched, and I saw Athrun being pushed back and worn down, I saw Mwu once again narrowly avoiding deadly attacks. Watching things like this, being able to see all the fine details and not being able to change them filled me with dread and anger. A white hot anger. It was then that a strange feeling took over me; it was like every stray thought in my head was suppressed, leaving only the necessary thoughts to complete the task before me. It was as though my body knew exactly what to do, and exactly how to do it.

I was moving before I even realized it, I was back in the heart of the battle and all around me the machines seemed to fall. I also realized that I had somehow managed to not destroy them but simply disable. At every knew change in the monitor, I found that I was reacting with incredible speed and accuracy. It was in this heightened sense that I once again came face to face with Le Creuset.

"Interesting boy. Very interesting..." The masked mans voice came through the communicator slowly and with a calculating edge, "Tell me boy, do you feel invincible?"

The question shocked me, but didn't surprise me. "It doesn't matter what I feel." I replied flatly, "What matters is keeping my friends safe from people like you!"

This time I didn't wait for him to attack, and I went at him shooting of rounds with my blaster. He dodged the ones he could and blocked the rest, but I wasn't done; I drew my sword with amazing speed and followed by blaster shots and began working at his defenses.

This time it seemed that Le Creuset was the one having trouble finding an opening to attack through, and the few he did get through were easily blocked.

"Do you see now why they searched for you?" Le Creuset's once again invaded my cockpit.

His question puzzled me slightly, but I didn't let up. I was now painfully aware of how low on power I was and knew I had to end it quickly. My little burst had created enough confusion for Athrun to get a foot hold on his end of the battle again and Mwu was safely darting through distracting or disabling the enemy again.

"Do you see the monster you are?" He pushed, I was sure that he was stalling. No doubt he knew that I would be low on power.

"You are the monster here!" I spat and at that very moment alarms began sounding, signaling that I was about to run out on power. Only a moment later the Strike lost its phase shift.

Le Creuset seemed to take this as an opportunity to renew his own attack, causing me to retreat quickly with him close in tow.

"See boy! You are limited by your reluctance to truly fight. Look at how many are left to pursue you!" Le Creuset said, triumph through his voice. Sure enough, Blue Cosmos operatives were beginning to notice that my phase shift was gone and all I had left was my thrusters.

"Athrun!" I yelled quickly patching a link through to him.

I knew he was still busy fighting, so he wouldn't have noticed what was happening yet. But I knew he would have noticed as soon as I had called out; despite my strange feeling of clarity, fear had still crept into my voice.

"Kira!" He yelled, "Get out of there! I'm on my way!" There was nothing else for me to do but keep dodging attack coming at me and attempting to put space between me and my pursuers. I waited anxiously as Athrun tried to get over to me, but I knew pretty soon that he wouldn't make it; by now all the enemies knew and they were working harder than ever to rid themselves of the threat Athrun and Mwu posed.

They were closing in on me, even my thrusters were losing power now. I knew that it was over for me, but maybe, just maybe Athrun could get away with Mwu and Tolle.

"Athrun, go! Just get out of here, go with Mwu and Tolle. Protect them for me." I said to him, this time opening a video link. His face appeared on my screen, and even through the visor on hid helmet I could see his face was pale and covered in a sheen of sweat.

"No!" He said stubbornly, I was instantly reminder of how I had done the same thing at the start of this battle, "I wont let them!"

The closest GINN was nearly on me, and this time I had no defenses.

"Athrun, please..." I muttered.

I never got a reply from Athrun. At that time the Strike was hit with some kind of charge, both effectively cutting of the power completely and shocking me. With a cry of pain everything went black...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<br>**_I watched in abject horror as the Strike was hit by a charge from a Blue Cosmos GINN, the electricity swam over the Strike like wild fire, visible even to the naked eye. I watched the machine shut down, and was even sure that I heard Kira cry out.

My heart twisted in my chest, and a feeling of hopelessness over came me. I fought even harder against the enemies separating the Strike from me. Separating Kira from me. That boy was my childhood friend, by best friend and I couldn't stand the thought of them getting him again knowing that this time it would not be the same free-range imprisonment.

There was still a distance between me and the Strike but I saw the small machine that had been assisting us -and no doubt had the people Kira called Mwu and Tolle inside- had reached the Strike and was working to keep the enemies at bay. But it was hopeless and soon they were once again making progress and closing in on the Strike.

It was strange that they hadn't killed Kira, normally they wouldn't have used a disabling charge on someone they wanted dead. But at the same time I couldn't think why they wanted Kira alive, or why the commander was working with them.

Everything seemed hopeless...

Suddenly a bright light caught my eye, and I turned to see a beam cannon shot coming this way. It sliced right through the middle of the battle, destroying the majority of the Blue Cosmos ships. Thankfully Kira and his friends were unharmed when the beam passed, but so was Le Creuset.

A large ship followed the beam, along with several small GINNs. I ignored them and used the pause in battle to move over to the Strike once there I assumed a defensive position in front of Kira. Le Creuset seemed to hover for a moment before turning his machine around and fleeing. The Blue Cosmos guys soon followed suit but headed in a different direction.

I turned to study the large battle cruiser ship that had thankfully interrupted the battle at the last moment; It was predominantly a bownish-gray colour, and was an old model. It also had all its weapons pointed at me and the small ship accompanying me.

I knew that I needed to relay that we were no threat before they used those powerful weapons on us, and I also knew that u had to do it quickly. Much like Kira I was about to lose my phase shift, and if it came to a fight with this new ship we wouldn't last a second.

"Please, don't fire." I said, opening up my communicator to all channels. I repeated it a few times, waiting a short while after every one for a reply. After a while I did get a reply.

"This is Cagalli, give us one good reason not to shoot you down." The voice was boyish but the name suggested a girl, who ever it was also seemed comfortable with power play.

"My name is Athrun," I replied, "We were simply trying to get to safety when we were attacked, my friend is possibly injured. Please."

I waited tensely, I was sure that Kira's friend would be listening in on the conversation because it was an open channel. The silence stretched out for what seemed like forever, and I spent every second wondering how we were going to get Kira to safety if they let us go. Especially if I lost power as well.

"Fine. We have all agreed to offer you our protection for a short while." The voice said, surprising me. I had expected that at best they would let us go and we would have to find our own way to safety. "But only until we reach Earth." The voice continued once again surprising me.

"I. Um, thank you." I stammered.

"The GINNs will escort you onto the ship, if you try anything at all they will not hesitate to shoot you down." With that the connection was cut and, as promised, a group of GINNs came forward to escort us to the ship.

I ended up towing Kira aboard, but we made it on without incident. Once inside I cut the power and practically jumped from the Aegis and made my way to the Strike, I was surprised to see that the majority of people around the hangar were dressed casually, but armed with heavy weapons. Rebels was the term that came to mind.

I reached the Strike and bounded up, thankful for the lack of gravity. I found the override opening for the cockpit opening, and flung it open. When I looked inside I saw Kira sitting in the seat slumped against the belt, head lolling to one side.

"Kira..." I gasped and headed in. I quickly checked his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when I found his heart rate normal, if a bit accelerated.

I gently removed the restraining belts and directed him out of the cockpit heading towards the ground where a group of people were waiting. When we hit the ground two people separated from the main group; one was a tall blond man dressed in a purple pilot suit, and the other was a teenager who seemed to be only around my age, he had brown hair and concerned eyes. Both looked Kira over anxiously and both visibly relaxed when they saw his chest rise and fall.

Some one new then detached from the small group, she was a girl who could almost pass as a boy with the way she dressed and the fashion that her blond hair was cut. She looked between me and Kira, then seemed to do a double take on Kira.

"Take his helmet off." She demanded. I hesitated, then realized that there was nothing to gain by defying her. I gently removed Kira's helmet, and heard a startled gasp from the girl. I looked up to see her eyes wide and surprise written all over her face.

"Him..." She muttered softly...

* * *

><p><strong>Big change of plans I guess, but I was a bit stuck on how to proceed then halfway through the chapter I figured out my problem. I hope nobody minds. :)<strong>

**Please Review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hm, I hope everyone has enjoyed the story so far! Finally upgraded my internet connection, so I should be able to update more often from now on :)**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 16: New &amp; Old Friends<strong>

_**Athrun's POV:  
><strong>_I stayed by his side the whole time, spending most of it puzzling over the girls -most likely the one named Cagalli- reaction. She knew Kira, if not by name, by face at least. And her shock over him being the one under the helmet was obvious.

The doctors had said that Kira would be fine, the wound in his shoulder from our run to the hangar was the worst injury sustained. The shock was used as a way to immobilize him after his phase shift was lost, but the shock level used was high and with Kira's weakened state it affected him badly.

"_You said they were trying to kill you both?" The doctor asked._

"_Yes." I replied, barely suppressing my annoyance at such an obvious question._

"_Hmmm... How odd. Usually they wouldn't use something like that unless they intended on capture, the weapon itself is not cheap." He doctor mused._

Remembering my earlier conversation with the doctor was an interesting one. I tried to remember where the shot had come from, but with the confusion of battle and my own weariness I couldn't recall clearly. I was quite sure that the Commander didn't possess a weapon like that though, meaning that it would have been the Blue Cosmos...

"But why?" I muttered to myself.

I wondered if Kira even knew, he had never gone into detail about what had happened with the Commander, but had told me that some kind of deal had been made with the Blue Cosmos thought his muttering.

I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and looked back down at Kira; he looked peaceful in sleep right now, and I guessed that it had something to do with the painkiller drugs that had been given to him. Not for the first time, I regretted that he had been drawn into the war. But some part of me -the part that had seen him battle so amazingly against Blue Cosmos- had to admit that he had a natural skill that most would work to achieve for their whole lives but never quite get there.

The opening of the door shook me out of my musings and I looked up to see Kira's two friends walk in. One was tall and blonde, he radiated confidence and skill even while damper and concerned for his friend. His clear blue eyes took in every detail in the room upon entering, once again indicating excellent training. The one behind him was shorter with obviously no experience, he had darker eyes that were currently to shaded to properly discern.

I remembered their names to be Mwu La Flaga -a long time enemy of the Commander- and Tolle. At that thought I vaguely remembered Kira saying something about this boy being his closest natural friend, and that he had once stood between him and the guns of the earth forces during a misunderstanding. I found myself happy that Kira had befriended this boy, if nothing else it was plain he was loyal. He had blindly came rushing to help Kira, and that took a lot of courage.

"How is he?" La Flaga asked. His voice was flat and me made little attempt to hide his distrust of me.

"Fine now..." I answered softly.

Tolle stepped forward, ignoring a cautioning look from La Flaga. He moved silently over to stand beside Kira on the opposite side of the bed from me. He looked down upon Kira with sad eyes, it took me a second to realize that he blamed himself.

"Its not your fault..." I blurted unthinkingly. He looked at me in surprise, we sat like that for a minute or so before he looked down again.

"He only got in that machine to protect us." He replied softly, "Now all this had happened."

I knew exactly how he felt, I wondered if he knew about the deal he had struck with the commander; saying that he would unlock the Strike if his friends were allowed to be given the chance to get some where safe and disembark.

A sudden fear shot through me as I realized something. I turned to La Flaga, making sure that my voice conveyed how serious I was,

"Listen, is the Legged ship protected?" He gave me a confused look and I had to dig in my memory for the actual name of the ship after growing so accustomed to its nickname, "The Archangel?" I clarified as the name came back to me.

Understanding came over his features, only to be replaced by suspicion,

"Why?" He demanded.

"Because of him." I said pointing to Kira, "Didn't you wonder why we stopped attacking you when you were at your most vulnerable?"

This time a speculative look crossed his face, I was sure that he had picked up on it because he was just to sharp to not pick it up. I didn't wait long before continuing.

"Kira was able to more or less barter the temporary safety of the Archangel, in return for unlocking the Strike after his friends were safe..." I started, but then the last few days played through my head and I decided that it had also been a false promise.

"What?" The voice startled me, I turned to see Tolle staring intently at me, "Do you mean that... Kira... he done that for us? Again?" I could see the pain behind his eyes and in knew that I may have just made him feel worse.

I was about to reply when the door slid open again and a nurse walked in, she was checking a chart she held in her hands but didn't seem surprised by our presence in the room when she looked up.

"I am afraid you need to leave." She said in a business like tone. We all complied and walked slowly out of the room, each of us looking back at least once to see the boy on the bed...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

There was finally no pain. I opened my eyes, at first seeing only the harsh white glare from the fluorescent lights. Slowly that subsided and I found myself looking up at an unfamiliar roof, but for a moment I allowed myself to think that it was the Archangel's med center.

At the thought of the Archangel, memories of the last fight I was in rushed into my mind. I sat up quickly, terror gripping at my heart as the new surroundings took on a new meaning. _Had Blue Cosmos gotten me? Where was Athrun? Mwu and Tolle? Were they alive? _

The thoughts assailed my mind, my breathing picked up and my heart raced. I faintly heard a monitor beeping louder and faster in the background. I swing around to dangle my legs off the side of the bed, but felt the pull of cords attached to my arm and chest. I quickly gripped them and yanked them off, to caught up in my fear to feel the pain that resulted. I just knew that I had to get out before anyone came.

I stood up, a bit wobbly on my feet and took a step towards the door. My heart almost stopped when the door opened, but to my surprise a young lady walked in with a few people dressed in white coats. She seemed familiar but for the moment I couldn't place where I had seen her from.

She took in my standing position, the look on my face, and the upheaval of the bed and cords quickly. Then she adapted a stance that said _everything is fine, we wont hurt you _with her hands in front of her. The rest of the people had frozen like statues, the tension almost tangible.

"Where am I?" I stammered, my voice sounded thick and scared.

"Easy... Listen you were quite badly hurt, you are in the medical center of this ship; the _Firefly_." She said softly and quietly. I frowned in confusion, her voice was also familiar and none of the behavior being shown to me seemed to match that of Blue Cosmos.

I took a second to really study the girl; she had roughly shoulder length blond hair that looked as though it had been badly cut. She was dressed as though she was about to go into battle, and it looked almost... boyish. In fact she could have passed for a boy is she didn't speak.

That was when it hit me; she was the girl that I had helped escape on Heliopolis, the one who I had originally mistaken for a boy and followed when she ran away from our group towards the military side of the base.

I knew then for sure that this was no Blue Cosmos ship and I relaxed a bit, taking a deep breath to slow my heart and breath. The girl also relaxed after seeing me do so.

"You're that girl..." I said, my voice sounding stronger. She gave a short snort of laughter.

"And you're that boy." She replied, "My name is Cagalli."

"Kira." I said automatically, then another thought came to me, almost sending me into a panic again, "Where is Athrun, Mwu and Tolle?" I demanded.

"Your friends are fine, they are resting now. They were very reluctant to leave your side, especially the ZAFT one." She said, a note of disdain in her voice as she said the word _ZAFT_. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Can I see them?"

"No, you need to stay here and rest." She said firmly, I was about to protest when she spoke again, "But I will have someone go and tell them that you are awake."

With that she turned to look at one of the men behind her with a pointed look, he quickly nodded and left. I moved back and sat on the edge of the bed, realizing as I done so how tired I was. I looked down and noticed that my arm was bandaged and my other arm was bleeding slightly from where I had ripped the drip from my arm.

Cagalli must have sent the other people away because when I looked up then were gone and Cagalli was walking over to a seat near the bed.

"So how are you feeling?" She asked. I wasn't quite sure how to answer,

"Tired." I admitted instead.

"That's understandable." We lapsed into silence for a while, her looking anywhere but at me. I could tell something was bugging her and decided that I would have to make the first attempt to draw it out.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly. She looked at me, apparently gauging whether she wanted to answer.

"How did you come to be flying that Mobile Suit?" She asked bluntly after a moment. I wasn't really surprised. And I told her a quick version of what had happened after I left her at the shelter. She shook her head in wonder and looked at me with a strange mix of amazement and shock.

"I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen them bring you in. Or heard the story of how you fought from the blond man."

This time I was the one who looked down as we fell back into silence.

"Where are we heading?" I asked abruptly.

"Earth." She replied simply, "The ship is filled with people from the rebel forces from the desert, they had to get supplies and ended up picking me up as well." She continued seeming to decide she can trust me.

"Are you one of the rebels, you seem to have a bit of authority?" I asked, truly curious.

"Yeah. You can say that I wormed my way up."

The door opened then and I looked up to see Athrun walk in, a large grin broke out on my face. A grin that only got bigger as Mwu walked in behind Athrun, then Tolle behind all of them. While Athrun and Mwu showed restraint, Tolle rushed over with an excited _"Kira!"_ and I found myself being chocked in a bear hug.

"T..Tolle!...to... ti..to tight!" I gasped, pain shooting from my shoulder. He quickly stepped back apologizing profusely. I couldn't help but smile, I was so happy to see him. After I had reassured him that I was fine he stepped back.

Next to step forward was Mwu, he also had a smile on his face.

"Good to see you Kid!" He said giving me a gently slap on the back.

"You too Mwu..." I said, I looked to Tolle then back to him, "The others?" I asked.

"Fine, they were about an hour away from the safety of the Earth Alliance from Alaska." He said and once again I let free a sigh of relief.

He then stepped back as well, although I could tell that I was a bit grudgingly. As Athrun stepped forward Mwu didn't take his eyes away from him. But there was no reservations with Athrun and he quickly embraced me -although a little bit gentler than Tolle.

"I am so glad you are ok." He said, "When I saw that blast hit you after your phase shift went down..." He said shacking his head and not being able to finish, but the message was loud and clear; he thought I was dead.

"Me too..." I admitted. "But its over now."

Everyone fell silent, and I figured it had something to do with the fact that no one really trusted anyone else but me. Then I saw a slight change on Athrun's face and to my surprise he looked to Mwu who nodded. I looked to Tolle in confusion, but he suddenly seemed _very _interested in the far wall all of a sudden.

"What?" I asked finally. Athrun took a deep breath,

"The trouble is that it might not be over. I have a feeling the Comm... Le Creuset will go after your friends now that he has lost you _and _the Strike." He said sadly, he wouldn't meat my stare as he spoke and neither would Mwu or Tolle.

My mind traveled back to that day on the Bridge of Le Creuset's ship;

"_Yes." Le Creuset countered. "And after they finish that annoying Mwu La Flaga they will proceed to destroy the Legged ship. That is, unless you prevent that." He was taunting me and I knew it. I also knew that I would take the bait..._

It had been a struggle to find a way to make sure he kept his word and to insure I protected my friends.

"_Fine." I said, Le Creuset looked extremely pleased. "However, I will not unlock it until my friends are safely off that ship." I continued. The happy expression on Le Creuset's face faltered a little bit. An awkward silence filled the area, confirming that he had no intention on keeping his word._

Now as everything hit home, I understood exactly what he meant. I also knew that we would have to find them. I turned to Cagalli.

"How long till we reach Earth? And how far from Alaska will we be?" I asked...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

"That blasted boy!" I muttered angrily.

I had been surprised when I had found out that he had escaped, even more so when I had found out that Athrun was assisting him. Even though I knew they shared a childhood friendship, I had thought that it was no longer so deep and that Athrun's loyalty to ZAFT was stronger.

It seemed to be a different case.

I would make sure that the boy found his end one way or another. I now regretted not doing it sooner, but I also knew that to do so without a valid reason would be to alienate the younger members of my team. Everything had been going so well. I was sure that once Blue Cosmos had him I would have been able to take the Strike to PLANT and get them to break through the lock on the OS.

I knew then that I had two things that needed to made up for; one was the loss of the Strike, and other was for my own reputation. One did not get as high as myself by failing. Both of those could be achieved by finding the Archangel and it's crew.

"And if I know anything about you know boy, you will be there as well."

* * *

><p><strong>So, not much happened here but hopefully that will change soon enough. My earlier thoughts of this story ending soon are gone now, with new ideas seeming to keep popping into my head I have a feeling I can keep this going for a bit longer. It will not be so much a capture story from here as I am sure you can guess, but the title <strong>_**'conflicted' **_**will probably finally come into play more now.**

**I hope everyone has enjoyed it so far, and please review and tell me what you think. I look forward to hear what you think, even if you think its horrible -even though I hope not :).**


	17. Chapter 17

**Back to the Archangel for a little while I think.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 17: Earth<strong>

_**Murrue's POV:**_

They were still gone. It had been nearly two days and still no sign of or word from Mwu and Tolle. We were slowly making our way for Alaska, having held off in space for as long as possible waiting. Mir, Sai and Kuzzey seemed to be on the bridge more than often lately, and I was sure that they too were watching out for their friends.

While a small part of me doubted their success, I couldn't help but with that Mwu would come back with Kira in tow. If I knew Mwu though, be wouldn't give up while even the smallest chance remained and he would most likely die trying. That in its self would be bad enough, but I doubted the teens who relied so heavily on the hope that their friends were coming back would be able to deal with the loss of another friend.

I sighed and sank further into my seat, wishing that I could ignore the constant glances from those around me. I had always known that being a Captain would be hard, but nothing in my carrier so far had prepared me for the weight of responsibility that would be placed on my shoulders, nor the number of innocents that my decisions would effect.

I was dragged from my musings at the alert of an incoming message. Everyone sat up straighter, not daring to breath. _Was this them? _When they were connected through, the disappointment was almost tangible; it was one of the lower ranking officers that worked more or less as messengers for the high ranking officials.

"Good afternoon Captain Ramius." He greeted. Despite being lower ranked than me, people were never game enough to admonish those directly under the important officials, so these young men and women tended to get condescending. Something that irritated me.

"Good afternoon." I replied simply, keeping my face blank.

"The council had asked that when you reach port, you and your crew stay on board until further notice." The young man continued.

This surprised me, we have been through so much the past few weeks and they want us to _stay on board._

"What about the civilians?" I questioned, they at least should be allowed off.

"They are to remain on board as well."

Before I even replied the man had cut the link, leaving the screen a blank black. We were only two days away from port, and the people of this ship -crew and passengers alike- were eager to get off and breath a breath of fresh air and unbridled freedom.

Something was wrong, and I could feel it...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

I woke up, finally feeling rested after the last few days hectic struggles. I looked over to the bed Kira was suppose to be sleeping in and noticed he wasn't there. I sat up slightly alarmed; Kira had been moved from the med clinic a few hours after he had woken up, but was told he needed to rest.

I quickly threw the covers off and slid out of bed. I dressed quickly and made my way into the hallway. I paused here, looking down both sides of the hall, almost willing myself to see where Kira had gone. I realized that Kira would be safe, but the irrational fear to be there if he needed me gnawed at me. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down, then I began thinking over the possible places for Kira to be now; he had liked to find a quiet spot to stare into space -literally- when aboard the Commanders ship. Deciding that that would be the best place to start I headed right along the hall towards an observation deck of sorts.

Upon coming aboard and getting clearance I had toured the ship and familiarized myself with its main areas and compartments. I passed a few of the rebel soldiers on my way, they were still cautious of me but seemed to find me no threat and would keep going on their way.

Around five minutes later I found myself standing before the door I had been looking for. I reached out and opened the door, which slid open with a soft _hiss. _Poking my head in to see if Kira was there I was shocked to see Mwu La Flaga. I thought of just leaving but then decided that he may know where Kira was.

I stepped in quietly, and moved over to stand near him. His attention was focused on the stars but I knew that he was aware of my presence.

"He's not here." He said after a few moments of silence.

"I know." I replied, there was no need to elaborate on who _He _was.

I was unsure now about my plan to ask the tall blonde man where Kira was, it was obvious that he didn't really trust me. Again silence filled the room around us. A few more minutes went by before he sighed and turned to look at me.

"He is in the Hangar working on the Strike." He said exasperatedly.

This surprised me, Kira was still to weak to be doing anything like that and he needed rest. I turned to walk out, eager to go and drag Kira back to bed so that he could rest. But again La Flaga's voice stopped me,

"I wouldn't bother. The Kid's worried about his friends now, so he wont rest." I turned to look at him. I knew he was right, Kira had always been like that. When we were kids the bullies used to say that Kira had made people feel bad by being around. Kira had taken it to heart and I would see him the next day, tired and worn out from staying up all night stressing. But he was always quick to smile when he saw that the bullies had been wrong and nothing had changed between him and the aforementioned kids.

"What's so funny?" I hadn't realized that I had been smiling until he spoke.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that Kira hasn't changed much since we were kids... Except that now he might actually have reason to be worried." I said, not quite sure why I was explaining myself to him but deciding that it was fine.

Now La Flaga took a turn to look surprised, he looked at me with wide eyes.

"You knew Kira before all this?" He asked quietly. I realized than that Kira mustn't have said anything about it yet.

"Yes. We both went to the same Lunar Prep School." I answered. Then gave him a small nod and left the room. It was an abrupt exit but I didn't really feel like answering questions like that when Kira wasn't around. Looking back on the conversation, I realized just how uncomfortable it had been and how jerky it sounded.

I made my way to the hangar and true to La Flaga's word, I saw the hatch to the Strike open and the rebel techs working around the damaged areas. The lack of gravity made it easy to float up to the Strikes cockpit.

I saw Kira there typing with amazing speed, bright violet eyes darting from one monitor to the next as he adjusted and calibrated the machine. I shook my head in wonder, in all my years training and working beneath Le Creuset I had never seem someone so computer literate.

"Whats up?" I asked, startling Kira. He jumped and his head swiveled around to look at me, "Sorry." I apologized, giving him a sheepish look.

"No, it's fine. I, um... Just thought of a few things I wanted to try..." He said, this time he looked sheepish. I knew that he expected me to tell him off for not resting so the excuse was also expected.

"Its fine Kira, these are hard times." I said fully serious. One of the techs below yelled a question up to Kira about the Strikes repair, Kira replied and explained what he wanted done. I realized that he was also instructing them on the Aegis' repair as well.

"Just thought of a few things eh?" I asked amused, Kira blushed slightly at being caught out and this caused me to laugh, "Whatever will we do with you Kira?" I asked in mock severeness.

"Well, you could always help..." Kira said with a smile, I shook my head knowing that I would have to help now.

"Your a prick." I joked happily, I noticed just how much happier Kira was now, there was a certain light that shone in his eyes that I hadn't realized was missing till now.

Kira and I worked for a couple of hours after that, and by the time the girl -Cagalli- came in La Flaga and even Tolle had come in and offered to help. The Gundams were in pretty good shape now, and I knew that if it came to another fight we would be ready.

Cagalli called everyone down to meet her near the door, and five minutes later we all stood -or floated- in a large semi circle around her.

"Everyone has worked amazingly." She said, mainly to the rebels. "And I have some good news..." She paused and I got the feeling I was to add to the affect, "We are almost home, Earth is only an hour away."

All the rebels cheered and whooped like they had just been told they were going for an all expenses paid holiday. I looked over to Kira with a questioning look and he just shrugged his shoulders...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Murrue's POV:<strong>_

"The engines blew out? What do you mean the engines blew out?" The angry voice rang through the bridge.

"As I said Sir, the Archangel has been through a lot. Plus she was never meant to be an atmospheric ship Sir. With all due respect, I request that smaller ships be sent for the civilians and the crew and I will stay with the ship." I replied, keeping my face an impassive mask. The admiral was angry, but if my plan worked then the civilians would get off the ship.

Murdoch wasn't happy with the idea of creating an engine failure, but had agreed to go along with it. For some reason I just felt that we had to wait!

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_After the announcement we had all drifted to different parts of the ship. Athrun, Mwu, Tolle, and I had all stuck together for a while to talk but things were always a bit tense between Mwu and Athrun -Tolle had been pretty laid back about it all after I told him a bit about Athrun. But I had noticed that today there seemed to be a bit less animosity between them.

I had managed to slip away awhile ago and headed for the observation deck, where I watched the Earth slowly get bigger. It had been years since I had seen it at all, my last time at the Lunar Prep School was probably the last time I had looked down upon Earth. The planet was beautiful; from space it was an unchartable mix of blue and green hues, covered in parts via clouds. Even thought the sun served as the light source the planet tended to glow with its own light.

A part of me was curious as to what it was like on Earth -if I had ever been I was too young to remember- I knew that the space colonies were designed the be reminiscent of Earth, but the prospect of seeing new sights was still quite amazing.

I sighed. _At least, it would be amazing, if not for the danger we are headed for. Again._ I leaned against the cool glass from my sitting position next to the glass.

The time seemed to pass silently and slowly after that, but soon the view of the Earth took up the majority of my scope of vision.

"All crew, prepare for atmospheric decent! I repeat; All crew, prepare for atmospheric decent." I jumped as the booming sound of the comm blasted through the silence. I wasn't sure what I was suppose to do, so I ended up deciding to stay put and watch the landing spectacle.

Not long after the decent procedures started I was surprised to hear the door open. I turned and was further surprised to see Cagalli walk in. She appeared deep in thought and didn't even notice me until the door had closed.

"Oh. I didn't know anyone was in here." She stated.

"Its fine, I can leave." I said standing up.

"No!" She said quickly, "Its ok, really." She seemed quite adamant and I decided that I might as well stay; she seemed to have a lot on her mind and I guessed that I was one of the people she wanted to talk to. A comfortable silence enveloped us, and I focused my attention back to the ever nearing Earth.

"You know..." Cagalli started walking over to stand near me, "I never got to thank you for what you done on Heliopolis." I looked over at her, she kept her eyes focused solely on the Earth and she kept wringing her hands in front of herself. She was nervous I realized.

"Don't worry about it." I said modestly, "In the end it all worked out. I guess."

Now her eyes swiveled to mine and I saw a flicker of surprise in them. She studied me for a moment and I got the feeling that not many people spoke to her on any kind of a personal level around here.

"You know, your pretty strange." She said abruptly, and I laughed. This girl seemed impulsive, right from the very start. I had to guess that when she ran apart from our group on Heliopolis that she hadn't even thought it through at all.

"The rebels seem to look up to you." I stated after a few more minutes of silence.

"Yeah, I think its because of Kisaka. He is kind of like a body guard and nobody wants to cross him. I may talk tough and do a few extra jobs, but really... I'm no better than any of them." I guessed that Kisaka was that big man who always seemed to be in the background when Cagalli was around. I also knew that what she said wasn't all true; the people did look up to her, she was a natural leader.

I was about to say as much when the ship lurched, indicating our entry into the atmosphere. I decided to hang tight and watch and we descended, a wall of red flame engulfing the ship. In a matter of minutes the ship was preparing for a water landing.

Sun shone through the observation deck and water stretched for miles, as far as the eye could see only being interrupted by small green dots that represented islands. To say beautiful was an understatement. The ship hit the water, sending large sprays of water flying all around.

We had made it. Earth. Now, the hard part began...

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, a bit pathetic when it comes to the Archangel. But it isn't going to follow the same story line as the series. :) I hope you liked it.<strong>

**Please Review and tell me what you think, be it good or bad :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yet another chapter, yet another twist... Hope you like.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 18: To Save A Friend<strong>

_**Le Creuset's POV:**_

Patrick Zala was angry. Very much so.

I knew this would work in my favor; he was not angry with me, but with his son Athrun and the boy, Kira Yamato. I was also rather annoyed with Athrun, if not for him everything would have gone off without a hitch; The Boy would have unlocked the Strike in a bid for freedom from Blue Cosmos, then I would have killed him. Better to make sure he is dead than risk the chance that BC may try t use him against other Coordinators...

The communicator was vibrating with the force of Patrick's shouts, but I had long ago learnt to block out the erratic mans ranting. There was only one thing I wanted.

I tuned back in when I heard a pause in the ranting and waited for a second to see if he would continue. Thankfully he did not.

"Sir," I said, playing sympathetic, "Surely you will give me permission to bring the young master Zala back and rid ourselves of the nuisance that is Kira Yamato."

"No." He said surprising me, "I want Kira alive, old friend or no be needs to be trialed."

I smiled. Knowing what was coming.

"Rau Le Creuset, I authorize you to send a forward party to apprehend to two boys, or if they fail to do that at least slow them down!" He said with an air of authority in his voice. He may not be the Supreme Council Chairman yet, but it wouldn't be long.

"Thank you, Sir." I said humbly...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

We were finally landing. We have been on Earth for three days now and have spent the majority of the time out at sea, Cagalli said that we needed to do this to ensure that we avoided suspicion. I was hoping to get off the ship for a while with Athrun and Tolle, to just get a breather.

We were still along way from where we needed to be, but this stop was necessary for the rebels; this was where the supplies had to go so most will be staying behind. I wasn't sure why but Cagalli convinced the commander of the ship to help us and take us closer to EA territory.

It was strange being on Earth, although Heliopolis had been constructed to resemble Earth in most ways it was still a completely different feeling. I walked out onto a small deck outside, watching as the lump of gray-green land got larger. I remembered when Athrun and I would look down onto the Earth from the Lunar Prep School and smiled sadly to myself. _Things will never be that easy again_ I thought.

Not long later I heard the door slide open behind me and saw Tolle and Athrun walk out together -a rare sight considering they always seemed to give each other a wide berth. I was sure the two could be friends if they tried, but while things were still so fresh I was sure that that wouldn't happen soon.

"Hey." I greeted before turning to look back out over the water, letting the cool wind wash over my face.

"Hey Kira." Tolle said cheerfully coming to stand beside me on my right. Athrun moved to the left and just gave me a nod in the way of greeting. I knew that he was deep in thought then because his expression was focused and his eyes far away. Choosing to let him think I turned to Tolle.

"Looking forward to getting of the ship?" I asked in an attempt to raise conversation. I hadn't had much time to talk to Tolle since we got here but I hoped that he didn't mind to much.

"You bet! I am so tired of walking down metal hallways all day." He replied.

"Yeah, me too."

There was one question on my mind, but it was the one I had been avoiding in all my short conversations with Tolle for fear of getting an answer I wouldn't like. Finally, being so close I wanted to know, so I looked away from Tolle and spoke;

"How are the others?" I managed to keep my voice clear of emotion, but as I asked the nightmare that I had while on board the ZAFT ship replayed through my head.

"They were fine last time I saw them," Tolle answered lightly, "but they sure missed you."

I gave vent to a small sigh of relief at the answer, it was all I needed to know. Tolle and I talked for a while and all to soon the tell tale signs of the ship docking made themselves known and Athrun finally spoke up,

"Well, looks like were here." He said, apparently no longer stuck in thought, "Let's go. I'm hanging out to stretch my legs."

I smiled and shook my head in mock disbelief as we walked off and earned a small bout of laughter from both Athrun and Tolle...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<br>**_It was as small city but it offered what we needed; time out and the chance to feel normal. Mwu La Flaga had chosen to stay behind at the ship to help with the unloading so it was just Kira, Tolle and I. As we moved through the streets we saw various shops and cafes but chose to keep looking before stopping, after all we didn't have much money.

We eventually settled on going back to a small sandstone cafe near the edge of town, the prices displayed there were the best we ad seen and the smell of food and hot drinks was very enticing.

We walked in and the soft aromas that we smelled from outside hit us full force, it had been ages since I had eaten food that wasn't made to last for long trips into space. Kira looked the same but he kept his face mostly clear, Tolle on the other hand was almost jumping up and down with excitement. I almost smiled at the boys antics.

We ordered the best meals we could afford then went and took a seat by the window, the place was mostly empty but it was mid-afternoon so others would probably come in later. We all spoke for a while as we waited for our orders.

When our meals came they were delicious. We all ate enthusiastically, devouring every last part of the meal. And when we were done we sat back and sighed contentedly. This day just couldn't get any better; it was like being on holiday.

Athrun looked over behind Kira as a small group of men walked into the cafe, despite the heat they all wore long coats. Each of them wore black sunglasses as well, effectively shielding their eyes. I was instantly alert, something just wasn't right about them. Were they some kind of gang?

Kira and Tolle seemed oblivious to the new entrants and my new sense of alert, I thought of telling them, but then I saw how relaxed Kira was; a rarity lately, and he was actually smiling as he spoke to Tolle. So I decided to keep quiet, for now, but kept watching them closely.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

"Well, I am stuffed!" Tolle said happily, patting his stomach to make a point.

"Yeah, me too." I said smiling. It felt good to be off a ship and not worrying about attacks or over sized metal killing machines.

I looked over at Athrun and realized that he had been very quiet for a while. His gaze was set behind me, and there was a look in his eyes that made me snap back to reality. I looked behind me, there was a small group of people at the counter. I wondered what Athrun was worried about; they seemed fine to me.

I turned back and studied Athrun again.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked quietly, just in case. His eyes locked onto mine for a moment before going back to watching the group.

"Yeah." He said, but it was to crisp and I knew he was lying; something was bothering him. I looked back at the group once more, trying to see what Athrun saw; they were looking around the cafe -for a table to sit at presumably- but other than that they seemed perfectly normal. They seemed to settle for the table behind us, I noticed that it was the only other window seat in the cafe so again it seemed normal.

I turned back to Athrun as I heard the group approaching their table,

"Are you sure you're-" I stopped mid-sentence when I felt some thing hard and cold pressed against the back of my neck. I saw Tolle stiffen in fear and Athrun half got up before a gruff voice spoke.

"Don't." It commanded and Athrun froze; half standing, half sitting. I wondered briefly how Athrun had known they were trouble but soon that thought was pushed aside by a growing sense of fear. I knew it was a gun being held against my neck.

Despite my internal feelings I kept I a straight face.

"Who are you?" Athrun hissed, I couldn't see the man behind me but I wondered how he felt under Athrun's ice cold glare. If anyone knew how protective Athrun was of his friends it was me.

"Who we are is unimportant. You two on the other hand are coming with us." This time a different voice spoke, it was rough and gravelly. I got the distinct feeling that 'you two' meant Athrun and I. Not Tolle. A part of me was glad about that, he might be able to get help before it was to late.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tolle's POV:<strong>_

Oh Shit! This was crazy! I had seen them walking towards the table behind Kira but I hadn't thought anything about it until one of them -a tall man, broad shouldered and deep voiced- had pulled a gun out of no where and had it pressed against Kira's neck.

Athrun had reacted the quickest but it wasn't quick enough.

_What did they mean by two? _I noticed that they were all focused on Kira and Athrun and figured that they didn't see me as a threat. I was scared and angry, and desperately trying to think of a way to help my friend.

The man reached down and hauled Kira up roughly by the shoulder, Kira winced slightly but other than that kept a straight face. I looked quickly to Athrun to see if he would do anything; Athrun looked ready to kill, he was shooting daggers at the guy.

"Let. Him. Go." Athrun said quietly, but his voice carried, as well as the implied threat. Now I knew why he was angry; the guy had hurt Kira, no matter how little. I felt a new respect for Athrun in that moment.

All the the groups attention was on Athrun then, they were obviously ready for him to attack or do something. Kira stood there, every so often struggling a little bit against the restraining hand on his shoulder.

_They might be expecting Athrun to attack... But they are not expecting _me _to attack. _I thought. I took a deep breath, knowing that I only had one chance...

I jumped up, knocking my chair backwards, and leapt at the man holding Kira. I was right; they weren't expecting an attack from me and I gave a small cry of triumph and I pummeled into the man. I might have been smaller than him but I managed to out enough force behind my attack that the man fell off balance and tumbled, he instinctively let go of Kira as he threw his arms out to catch himself.

I looked at Kira with a small smile on my face, and we turned to get out of their reach. Only I didn't get far before a loud _BANG_ sounded...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

My heart lurched and time seemed to stop. Tolle turned around, only to be faced by one of the men , he was shorter than the rest but even in his jacket he seemed strong. I saw the gun go up, as if in slow motion; aimed at Tolle's stomach.

The sound of the shot seemed to tear through my heart. Tolle stumbled back a step, hitting a chair then looking down in confusion. From where I stood a blossom of red was steadily spreading. Blood. Tolle looked up at me, his confused expression changing to one of fear and pain.

"I...I... Kira..." He stuttered before falling sideways. His voice was full of pain. I caught him before he hit the ground and keeled so his head was resting on my knees.

"No. Tolle..." I whispered, feeling the hot prickling of tears in my eyes. Why him? Why Tolle?

I desperately tried to cover the wound with my hands, just to slow the bleeding, but there was so much blood. To much for me to stop. Everyone around us was quiet and still, but I barely noticed them. I didn't care.

"Tolle." I said, voice chocked and thick, "Please."

Tolle gave me a sad smile, one that didn't reach his eyes before falling silent. I knew he was dead, but I couldn't believe it. My vision blurred with my tears, the same tears that left hot trails down my cheeks and fell onto Tolle's face below me. Onto a face that would never smile again, all because he tried to save me...

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry to all the Tolle fans, but I felt that Tolle's death was kinda important. But I didn't want it to be the same as the series; a 10 second death scene.<strong>

**I hope you liked it, and sorry for the long update it took a while to figure out what I wanted to do with this chapter and I just went back to school a few days ago.**

**So yeah, please review and tell me what you think :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**I will have to apologize now for the length between my updates; I swear I am buried 10 feet deep in homework for school :/so I might be a bit slow... but I will try to keep updating as often as possible tho :) **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 19: Case<strong>

_**Athrun's POV:**_

How had this happened? A simple day on land, and this... It was like time stood still as Kira held his dying friend, but I knew from experience that the bullet had hit some vital organs. Even the bastards were still and silent as they watched the two friends.

I knew there was nothing worse for Kira than this; to lose a friend that gave his life to save him. Despite everything I couldn't help but thank Tolle immensely in that moment for risking everything for Kira.

But now we had to move if we were going to make that sacrifice worth anything. All eyes were on Kira, so I moved slowly as to not draw there attention. I drew the gun that I always kept concealed in a shoulder holster and made my move;

Jumping forward I stood over Kira and fired off a few rounds at the men, they were well trained and quickly dived for cover. I knew that they wouldn't fire back because they wanted us alive. I had gathered that much by there desperate attempts to act normal and get as close as possible before we noticed to avoid the chance of us retaliating.

"Kira, come on... We have to go..." I said softly, gun trained on the area they were hiding and pulling off a warning shot occasionally. I got no reply, and Kira didn't move. _He must be in shock... _I thought desperately. I crouched lower, gun still ready and placed one hand on Kira's shoulder, he jerked in surprise and looked up at me.

The sight was heart breaking; he looked to innocent in that moment, violet eyes blank but full of pain, tears running down pale cheeks. The red hot anger I already felt at these people grew even more because of the pain they had caused y friend. But I couldn't fight them now, we had to get away.

"Kira, please listen. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere... But we need to leave, we can't let Tolle die for nothing..." My words seemed to reach him this time. He looked down one more at Tolle before looking back at me again and nodding numbly.

We stood, Kira seeming a bit unstable for a second before steadying. I fired off a few rounds periodically as we moved towards the door. We reached it without incident, and quickly exited...

The people outside were going about their business, as if anything the streets seemed more crowded than before. But now they held nothing but a chance of danger; anyone in the crowd could be with the group that came into the cafe.

"Come on..." I said to Kira as I directed him towards one of the smaller off roads down the street a bit, winding our way through the crowd. I kept our pace in check, making sure that we didn't move to fast and draw unwanted attention.

As soon as we turned the corner and were out of sight of the cafe I stopped and looked at Kira. He looked blank, as though he wasn't really there.

"Kira?" I asked tentatively. He looked at me sadly, "I know its a lot to ask, but we need to run now; we need to get back to the ship as quick as we can." I hated asking him this now, but I had to. Again he nodded numbly.

I kept a firm hold on his hand as we ran, ignoring the strange looks from the people we passed. The port and water beyond were just in view when the first shouts reached my ears. They were catching up, and by the sound of it they were no trying to be discrete about it.

Kira must have heard them to because his head snapped up and the sound of one of the shouts. I looked at him quickly as we ran; now there was a strange determination in his eyes, the same determination I had seen in so many soldiers about to push themselves...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_Tolle... I couldn't stop the same image of him lying there dying in my arms. I could feel the blood drying on my hands. The sad smile he gave me as he slipped away...

The sounds of there shouts finally brought me back to reality. We were running, Athrun leading me through the people and round corners. I only had a vague memory of him saying that we needed to run. But I wanted those people to pay for what they did to Tolle.

But I was no worrier, I couldn't fight well enough, and I doubted that I would have the strength to pull a trigger on a gun right now. No. I wasn't a soldier. We needed to get back to the ship and to safety, only then can we think about doing anything.

I ran for real now, picking up the slack behind Athrun, he looked at me in surprise for a second before he nodded once and we both pushed as hard as we could. I felt strangely numb; even the ragged breath coming from my own lungs seemed to bring no feeling, my own pumping heart seemed slow and lagging.

Slowly the sounds of the shouts grew fainter as we pulled away, our feet pounding the ground. We were finally near the port when Athrun spoke,

"Stop." He panted. We both stopped and stooped over with our hands braced on our knees in an attempt to get out breath back.

"Why?" I asked, my voice sounded hollow even to me.

"We need to look as normal as possible now, the port people would notice us if we came charging in. We need to lose them before the ship, and to do that they can't know what ship we go on." He explained, I felt like we should be getting there as quick as possible but what he said made sense.

"Ok." I said and straightened up. Athrun done the same a moment later and we began walking -painfully slow- towards the ship on the other side of the port.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

We made it to the ship without further incident. Kira had dug his hands into his pockets to hide the blood and kept his head down. I was no longer holding onto him but I stayed close to just in case anything happened.

As we neared the entrance to the ship Cagalli walked out, she saw us coming and began walking over. I shook my head to her, when she stopped with a questioning look on her face. A a panicked expression appeared on her features and she ran over to us.

"Not here." I said firmly, stopping the tirade or questions that were coming our way. She looked at Kira for a moment then fell into step with us as we walked onto the ship.

"We need to leave now." I sad to Cagalli as we walked.

"What? Why?" She asked bewildered.

"Because lives are in danger." I said coldly this time getting no reply for a while as she thought.

"Well... we finished getting the supplies done, but all the people were told they could have a break before take off." She said.

"Call them back then." I replied. "They could be targeted too."

That seemed to be enough to convince her and she nodded before running ahead.

"Kira?" I asked, he had been silent since we stopped. He looked up at me, he still seemed aware but blank.

"Yeah..." He said sadly.

"Lets go get cleaned up..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cagalli's POV:<strong>_

Something had happened. Something bad.

Those boys had seemed forlorn when they first came onto the ship, but that was nothing compared to now, and where was their friend?

Kira, the boy who had helped me to escape Heliopolis before its destruction. Watching him interact with his friends before everything went wrong had been amusing; they had seemed so normal and happy. Then seeing him come onto our ship after piloting the mobile suit had been a shock, he had been hurt but happy to see his friends. But now, the whole time I had walked with the boys and talked to Athrun, he hadn't even raised his head and he kept his hands buried deep in his pockets.

It wasn't right. The boy who had been so happy and bright shouldn't be this down.

I wasn't watching where I was going, and I didn't notice him walking along the hall until I bumped into him. Looking up I saw the blond haired pilot they called Mwu La Flaga.

"Oh. Sorry." I apologized.

"No its fine, have you seen Kira, Tolle and Athrun?" He asked. My heart lurched slightly, I had seen two of them, and they looked horrible.

"Yes and no." I said looking away. I could feel his curious eyes on my face.

"And that means?" He pushed.

"You need to go to them." I said, "Something happened, I'm not sure where they are right now though."

With that I walked past him, and kept walking...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

Athrun was in the shower, he has said he needed to freshen up. I had gone first, and washed all the blood off my hands, but I could still feel it.

I sat on my bed, staring at my hands and trying not to think about what had happened. I avoided looking at Tolle's bed on the top bunk, trying to avoid the pain.

There was a soft knock at the door and I looked up. I couldn't bring myself to invite who ever was out there in. Hopefully they would just leave if no one answered, I knew that there would be questions and I wasn't sure I could handle that yet.

After a while the knocking stopped and I though that they had left, then the door opened.

"Kira? Athrun?" Mwu called as he walked in, I looked up slightly surprised that that he had called Athrun by name.

He saw me sitting on the bed and studied me for a moment before closing the door and sitting on Athrun's bed.

"Kira, are you ok?" He asked, I hated that question. I didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Athrun is in the shower." I said avoiding the question. Mwu looked around the room for a moment before turning back to me.

"Kira. Where is Tolle?" He asked, my blood ran cold and I looked away. A new stab of pain running through my heart.

"Kira?" He pushed. I could feel hot tears prickling at my eyes again as I thought of Tolle and where he was. He was no longer here. He was dead and I felt dead to.

"He's gone." I blurted.

"Gone? Gone where?" Mwu asked confused.

"He's dead!" I yelled. I felt horrible, Tolle had died for me and it was the first time I had actually said the words myself. They hurt just to say and my throat felt constricted. Mwu reeled back as though someone had hit him.

"He's dead..." I repeated, this time barely above a whisper, "Because of me."...

* * *

><p><strong>Well, another chapter down. I don't often write emotional chapters so I hope it wasn't to bad.<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Finally. Homework load lessened enough for me to get some typing done :) Hope you all don't mind the wait.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 20: Relentless Pursuit<strong>

_**Kira's POV:**_

Is someone had told me a week ago that one of my best friends was going to die in my arms, I wouldn't have believed them. It would have been an inconceivable concept to me then. But now... Now was different. Tolle was gone and it hurt like hell to admit it.

And to make it worse; we hadn't even been able to get his body.

In the days that followed, we have been constantly on the run and fighting off attacks from the group who had attacked us at the cafe. As it turned out they were ZAFT soldiers, sent by Le Creuset to bring Athrun and I back.

I had been confused as to why they would want me back alive, but I soon let it slide. While fighting them I always felt angry, and from that it some how improved the way I fought. It was like they were moving in slow motion, making it only to easy to take them down. Even after what they did to Tolle I found it hard to kill, so I fought mostly to disable them.

"Kira?" A tentative voice sounded and I looked around to see Athrun. He has been worried about me since Tolle died, and I hated making him worry, so I put on a brave face when I could.

"Yeah?" I asked, giving him a small smile. If nothing else, I really appreciated what he was doing for me by simply being there.

"You ok?" He asked, moving to sit beside me on my bed. I was quite late in the morning, but we had been up late trying to find some trace of the Archangel but coming up inconclusive

"Yeah, still a little tired is all." I answered. Athrun didn't buy it.

"You up for something to eat?" He asked, dropping the subject. I wasn't really, but I decided that I needed to eat.

"Yeah sure." I replied, jumping off the bed. Athrun gave a small shake of the head and we moved off. The corridors were empty as we moved towards the mess hall; most people were busy doing their allocated jobs or filling in for those who were catching up on much needed rest.

We soon reached the mess hall and entered; there were a few people here, but they mostly ignored us and kept about their own business. Those that did look up at us would give us sad glances. Most people aboard the ship knew what happened, and most though that it was a sad ending for a boy as young as Tolle. I thought it was a sad ending period.

We sat down at the furthest table from everyone else and began eating in silence. The food wasn't all that great, but we all figured that it was better than nothing.

"Athrun?" I asked after a while, a question coming to mind.

"Mmmm?" He mumbled, mouth full.

"Are you glad you left?" I didn't need to elaborate on where he left from, we both knew what I was talking about; the ZAFT military.

He turned thoughtful while he finished chewing and swallowed.

"I guess." He said at last, "But you need to remember that not all of them are like that. Most just want to protect what is important to them and avoid the pain of another Bloody Valentine... When Mum was killed, I joined the military for what I thought was justice at first. I trained and trained, wanting to be the best and be the one to stop the violence. But then after I saw you... Things changed..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, truly curious.

"Well, my childhood friend just appears in the middle of a military base that hold some of the most dangerous mobile suits ever. Then he joins the Earth Alliance. At first I was angry when I saw you fighting for them. But after I caught you and you told me why you were fighting. Well it threw some things into perspective. You were out there risking everything to save what was important to you, but you were doing it no matter the cost to yourself..."

I though back to those first few battles, before everything had been this crazy. I had gotten into the cock pit of the Strike for the simple reason of protecting my friends, and I was reluctant even then. Athrun started speaking again and drew me out of my thoughts.

"It got me thinking I guess. Thinking about what I was really trying to achieve. And I was scared of what I might find. And scared that I also didn't really know. I hoped that if I left with you, that I could find that."

"Well, if I can do anything to help you find that I will." I said will a small smile. While the mental and emotional wounds of Tolle's death were still fresh, I was glad that I had Athrun with me. Without him... Well I just couldn't imagine what I would do.

"Thanks Kira." He said, returning my smile. We fell into a comfortable silence after that, occasionally talking about small things but nothing of great importance.

We had nearly finished our meal when Mwu walked in and headed our way. He had been quiet lately, but through it all I thought I could see a new kind of friend ship between him and Athrun.

"Kira!" Mwu called as he neared us. He looked... Happy? I stood up, leaving what was left of my food on the plate and went to meet him. Athrun followed close behind.

"What's wrong?" I asked when we were close enough.

"Nothing. In fact its all good news." He said, "Come on." He turned as abruptly as he came in and headed out. I turned an inquisitive look towards Athrun, who only shrugged as we began walking after Mwu.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

"Report?" I said into the com.

"I'm sorry Sir, but they seemed to have eluded us yet again. We lost Mackett in the last fight. They are very stubborn." Leigh, the leader of the forward squad, reported.

It had been the same for the last few days. My men attempting to capture the annoying young men, and them escaping every time. Not just that, but we had even lost men in the process. It was rather infuriating.

"Very well." I said. "Try something new; focus your men on the weakest link and the rest will simply crumble."

"Yes Sir!"

"Make sure you keep watch over their activities Leigh, we can not afford to lose them now." I warned.

"Yes Sir!" I ended the communication and sat back in my chair. This boy was turning out to be a bigger problem than I originally believed; he had seemed to be such an easy target before, but now... I was going to have to rethink many things after this. And I was going to have to find a way to keep him from falling into the Chairman's hands.

If Patrick Zala knew what he held within his grasp, it would spell trouble for my plans...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

We were heading to the bridge, it was easy to tell by now. Kira and I had explored the ship quite thoroughly after boarding. Kira looked deep in tough again; it had become quite common over the last few days. I wondered what he was thinking but I could never bring myself to ask, although I had a good idea that most of it had to do with Tolle.

Tolle. He had risked and sacrificed his life to save Kira and I knew Kira blamed himself for it as well.

Seeing Kira so... Broken, was a scary sight for me. Even when we were little and he was being bullied most days he remained upbeat and happy.

I had decided that I wanted to see Kira smile again; a real smile and not the fake ones he had been giving lately. He was slowly beginning to open up again, although at first he wouldn't eat or speak. It was easy to tell that the death of one of his best friends was taking a toll on him though. He had been restless before but now he often woke in the middle of the night crying, or even screaming Tolle's name.

"What do you think its about?" I asked, hoping to keep Kira talking after the good run at lunch.

"Dunno." He replied. We both looked at Mwu again; there was a strange spring to his step, quite different to what I knew of him.

"Is he normally like this?" I asked nodding towards the aforementioned blond.

"Kinda, I haven't really known him that long. But on the-" Kira stopped mid sentence and froze. I stopped walking and looked at him. His eyes were tracking Mwu's every move right then, his brow creased in thought.

"Kira? Whats wrong?" I asked. It took a moment but he snapped out of his daze and continued walking. When I had caught up to him I repeated my question.

"No... It's just that the last time he was like this was on the Archangel... Athrun you don't think that...maybe...?" He left the question hanging.

"I really don't know." I replied. But I really hoped that it was, right now I think the best thing for Kira would be to get to the Archangel and his other friends.

"What will I tell them?" Kira asked softly after a small silence. I didn't really catch on at first, but understanding dawned when I saw his face.

"I-I um... The truth... I guess." I answered. I was scared that talking to much about the topic would cause Kira to recede again.

"Yeah... Your right." He said, giving me another one of those small smiles. I could tell he had doubts though.

"Hey," I said giving him a reassuring smile, "I'll be there to help you the whole way." _I promise. _I though at the end...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_There was a flurry of activity when we walked onto the Bridge; Cagalli was talking intently with some of the men, while others were running between stations, yelling coordinates and bearing to each other.

Noticing us Cagalli moved over, she had a bright smile on her face as she looked at us. I could feel my hopes rising; with the way everyone was acting, it was bound to be great news. And right now that only meant one thing to me.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We found them Kira. We found the Archangel." Cagalli announced happily. We had become good friends since we first met, and I was glad to see her both this happy and to hear the news.

"have you contacted them?" I asked, feeling a slight increase in my own heart rate at the thought of seeing my friends again.

"No. We figured it would be better if you were here for that; Mwu wouldn't do it without you." She answered.

I looked over at Mwu who who gave one of his _'Who would have thought?' _shrugs and smiled. I gave him a small, relieved smile.

"Ma'am! They have responded, should I put them through?" One of the crew asked. It seemed that everyone was feeling quite happy at the moment; even if it was just the though of us leaving and them being out of danger.

"Yes, of course!" Cagalli said and moved over so she was in view of the receiver.

A few moments later Murrue Ramius's face came on screen, her voice following soon after.

"This is Captain Murrue Ramius. Who is this?" She demanded, cautiousness layering her voice. I felt a surge of relief at seeing her again.

"My name is Cagalli, I seem to have picked up some people who would like permission to board your vesicle." Cagalli replied smoothly.

"And who would these people be?" Murrue questioned.

"Well, what a nice way to say hello." Mwu said as he walked into view of Murrue. There was an audible gasp from everyone on the deck of the Archangel.

"Mwu... Is that really you?" She asked, relief and confusion written on her face.

"The one and only." he replied. A silence had filled the bridge of both ships, and silent questions were passed through.

"What about..." Murrue asked, trailing off.

Mwu smiled and turned to me, nodding his head towards Murrue. I walked over and stood before the captain of the Archangel.

"K-Kira?" She stammered.

"Hey Ms. Murrue." I said. My heart felt like it would burst from my chest. The silence on the other side only lasted a fraction longer before cheers erupted and my friends began calling to me. I had to work hard to fight back tears for two reasons; one was immense joy, the other was because Tolle should have been here for this.

Murrue went to say something but the sound of alarms here halted it. Everyone looked around, and Cagalli moved over to one of the crew and they spoke quietly for a while before Cagalli looked up again.

"Were under attack. Its the ZAFT forces again." She said...

* * *

><p><strong>Well, another one down :) I would never had though the story would be so long. I am really grateful to everyone who had read and supported the story :)<strong>

**Please tell me what you think. I am always open to ideas and constructive criticism :) **


	21. Chapter 21

**Well, nothing much to say this time, so on with the chapter!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21: Win or Lose?<strong>

_**Kira's POV:**_

_Damn, ZAFT again? Why wont they just leave us alone?_

Cagalli looked around at everyone, her eyes coming to rest on my own before she spoke;

"Looks like were off to battle again." She said, "Level one battle stations!"

I waited only a second more before turning and heading off the bridge and towards the launch bay. Athrun and Mwu soon fell into step beside me. As we walked I could feel Athrun's concerned gaze on me, after a while I turned to him with a questioning look.

"Are you sure you want to go out this time?" He asked quietly. Athrun had asked the same question every time we had had to pilot the Gundam, and in truth I would have preferred to never pilot again, but I felt that I needed to stop anyone else from getting hurt. Especially with the rest of my friends so close and waiting for us.

"It's fine Athrun." I said, giving him a small smile, "You guys will need all the help you can get."

Athrun watched me for a moment longer before nodding once. I knew he was concerned, and I thanked him for it, but now was not the time for me to give up.

When we reached the launch deck we all moved to our respective machines and booted them up, ready to go. _This time... all we have to do is win, and then we can move to safety with the Archangel._ I told myself.

As I moved out onto one of the ships sides, ready to fight, I wondered if maybe this could be that last fight that we would have. Because surely the Earth Alliance would take the Gundams back and we could leave; leave and hopefully never have to see another weapon.

"You ready Kid?" Mwu's voice came over the comm.

"As ready as I can be Mwu." I replied.

"Good. Keep your head about you in the fight Kid, don't get distracted."

"Yeah, ok."

Proximity alarms began sounding as the ZAFT Ginns closed in on our position. Looking on the scanners and view screens I counted 12. And that gave us a 4:1 ratio. Us being the 1. I sighed as the Ginns began shooting; the only thing we had going for us was the fact that they wanted Athrun and I alive. So they couldn't go all out on us.

The first shots that came my way were easily dodged, allowing me to easily return fire while they wheeled around for another attack. Athrun was doing the same on the other side of the ship while Mwu flew around in the Zero, keeping any that we couldn't get, under control.

The battle continued that way for a while; the ZAFT soldiers swooping in and attacking at half strength while we defended. It had been like this every time they had attacked. When an explosion registered in my scanner I was glad to see that Athrun had taken down one of his opponents, then I turned my attention back to the ones facing me; usually at this point, after they had lost one, they would leave. But this time I was surprised to see that if anything they were coming at us harder than before.

"Athrun, what do you think is going on?" I asked, opening a comm link.

"Not sure, I guess they are trying an all-out attempt." He replied. But I wasn't convinced; if this was all out then they would have been fighting harder than usual the whole time. It was more like they were testing our boundaries.

"I don't think so." I said to Athrun, then preceded to tell him what I thought.

"Hmm, maybe your right. But then why are they still going to easy, surely they know that the Archangel is nearby..."

"Yeah I know, it's confusing."

"Don't worry too much Kira, there is nothing we can do in either case but keep fighting for now." Athrun said.

"Ok." I replied before cutting the comm link. The whole while the ZAFT Ginns had been attacking in different formations; sometimes coming in two's or three's, but they were still easily blocked or avoided.

Then things began to change.

It was small at first, barely noticeable; just a well-placed shot here, or a more cunning maneuver there. But it was starting to show; they were all coming harder now, using more powerful shots and threatening to take it to the next level.

To my surprise, one of them drew a blade and came at me. In all the recent fights they had all always stuck to using distance based attacks, so one coming right at me was strange. I was now stuck with a small dilemma; is I drew my blade to effectively counter then I would be opening myself to the distance attacks, but on the flip side, if I continued as I was then I would have nothing but my shield to combat the oncoming attack.

Deciding to deal with the oncoming threat first I drew my own blade and waited for the impact...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

Well, this is just great...

I had hoped that they would leave before now, but apparently not. This fight was beginning to drag on for too long and it needed to end. _It would be so much easier if these Gundams could actually __maneuver in the __earth's__ atmosphere. _I mentally groaned.

One thing was for sure now though; these guys were starting to get harder and harder to repel. Using a small break in their attack, I decided to check on Kira and Mwu; Kira was in a position the same as my own, whereas Mwu was taking quite a beating trying to protect the parts of the ship that Kira and I couldn't get to. I also knew Mwu was working to keep some of the enemy away from us.

Over the past few weeks Mwu and I had become quite good friends; united in our need to protect Kira I think. This has also proven to be quite a good thing; with the time we have spent recently we have been able to talk about a lot of things, and that included the differences in our military. Having that chance to talk evenly with someone of the opposite side was quite beneficial.

So now on the battle field I found myself worrying about Mwu putting himself in more danger than needed. I was also worried about Kira being on the battlefield again; every time he fought he seemed come out like a zombie.

While thinking about all these things I had lost track of what was going on around me, and the next thing I knew was a jarring impact slamming into my Gundam from behind; the force sending me forwards and towards the water. With a quick, high powered, burst of the thrusters I managed to get myself up straight again.

"Sneaky bastard..." I hissed.

With a well-placed shot, I sent my attacker spiraling toward the water. He never made it that far though; I followed through with a second shot and the Ginn subsequently exploded. This was the first successful downing for the fight but I felt no pride in it as I one might of; the idea of killing seemed to have been driven from my mind since I had been around Kira.

Now I could just pray that they would leave.

But it seemed that no such luck was on my side today; they just kept coming.

It continued like this for a while, once again attacking and defending in turn. Occasionally I would check on Kira and Mwu but they seemed to be in the same position as I was so no words were spoken. One thing was for sure though; these guys were beginning to test their limits. Not long after this became apparent Kira contacted me asking what I thought of the enemies tactics and actions. I really had no clear idea, so had no real answer for him except that in the end all we could do was keep fighting.

It wasn't too much later, that while checking in on Kira once more, I saw them try a new tactic on Kira; One of them was attempting to charge him with their blade drawn, which I found to be a poor choice of tactic. Kira had amazing reflexes and was extremely hard to best in hand to hand combat in the Gundams. In retaliation Kira drew his blade as well, and I could only guess as to what was going through his mind; most likely weighing the possibilities between hand to hand and distance combat and deciding on the lesser of two dangers.

I almost felt sorry for the guy or girl about to go up against him. Almost.

But it seemed that once again I was destined to be wrong. In the final seconds before Kira would have engaged the enemy, another enemy took the chance and went at Kira from behind. The same as they had done for me.

"Kira!" I yelled into the comm. But the warning didn't… Couldn't reach him in time, and the second enemy collided with Kira while the first disengaged at the last moment. Things seemed to move in slow motion and Kira's Gundam pitched forward. I heard a small cry of alarm from the open comm channel as the Strike fell towards the water.

I moved without thinking. Abandoning my own position and blasting my thrusters to full to move over the bulk of the ship and towards Kira. By the time I got there, there was nothing but large clouds of bubbles coming up to the surface of the water.

"Kira!" I yelled once more as I prepared to follow him, hoping to do something, anything to help.

But for the third time that day; the world was against me.

Some kind of electrical shock hit my Gundam. I had only a second to register two thoughts before the charge, the same kind of charge that was used against Kira before as we were escaping from ZAFT the first time, ran through my own body and blackness descended;

_Kira…_

Forgive me…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

All that was registering on my screens was the whiteness of the bubbles around me. That blow had been so unexpected, the only warning that I had, had been Athrun's cry seconds before impact. Said Impact had shaken my Gundam violently, causing my head to snap forward painfully. And before anything else had made sense I was in the water.

I had no fear of the water getting onto the cockpit; it was air tight, as it needed to be for space conditions. As I waited for the bubbles to clear so I could get my bearings I wondered what was going on outside.

I knew that Athrun would be worried, but I couldn't really do anything about that right now.

Not long later the bubbles were cleared enough that I could see the lighter water near the surface, boosting up my thrusters I made my way upwards. Putting even more into the thrusters I used the speed like a sling shot and burst through the water and into the air. This allowed me to reach the height necessary to get back onto the ship.

However when I turned to face the enemy I found the sky clear. Checking the scanners I saw that all the ZAFT Ginns had gone.

"Hmm, We must have won..." I muttered.

I headed inside, expecting to see the Aegis and Athrun in there, but their space was empty. I frowned in confusion and checked my scanners once more as I headed to my own area; there was no sign of the Aegis there either. I saw Mwu climbing out of the Zero below and promptly went over to him once my Gundam was powered down. I glanced once of twice towards the landing bay, expecting Athrun to show up. The men and women around the bay seemed to be acting strangely; out of the corner of my eye I saw some looking my way and whispering. Others made a point to give me a wide berth and avoided looking at me.

"Hey, Mwu!" I called when I was close enough, "Where's Athrun?"

Mwu had been talking with one of the tech officers about something, and it was only after he turned that I saw the pained expression on his face and the slump in his shoulders. When his eyes locked with mine I knew something bad had happened.

I wasn't aware I had stopped walking until Mwu made his way over. With each step he took I could feel my heart sinking further. When Mwu reached me he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Kira..." He said looking away. The fact he actually said my name and not 'Kid' confirmed my thoughts that something seriously bad had happened.

"Where is Athrun Mwu?" I asked bluntly, my own voice flat. Mwu took a deep breath before replying.

"He... He's gone Kira... They got him..." Mwu finally faced me again. I can't be sure what he saw on my face at that moment, but he soon turned away again.

I felt numb.

It just couldn't happen. Not to Athrun.

But even as my mind rejected the idea, my body knew it was real; silent tears once more ran down my cheeks and my shoulders shook.

_It just couldn't happen. Not to Athrun..._

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry it took so long. Once again my excuse is school; on top of my normal studies u have been participating in a lot of extra-curricular activities. Hope I didn't make anyone wait to long :)<strong>

**I have also recently uploaded the first five chapters of a story I had to do as a creative writing assignment in English called Ultimatum. Its based on Gundam Seed between Gundam Seed and Destiny. I would love it if you guys had a look and tell me what you think.**

**So yeah, please tell me what you all think. **


	22. Chapter 22

**Well its been a while and I'm sorry for not updating sooner. For the next few months however, I will be slow updating as I have major exams to study for, then soon after Christmas I will be making a rather large move. So please bare with me, because I will update as often as possible.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 22: Lonely Reunions<strong>

_**Murrue's POV:**_

"Its not good Murrue. The Kid is... well in shock I think, but I'm not sure." Mwu said over the com. Everyone on the Archangel had seen the fight and how the Aegis had gone down. The whole deck crew and I had held our breath when Kira went down, praying the the Strike would be able to hold up under the water. Then the Aegis... the Gundam everyone had been surprised about when it emerged from the other ship alongside the Strike... The Aegis had abandoned its post altogether and gone over to Kira. That was when things went crazy; Suddenly the enemy was going full force, keeping Mwu busy while they disabled the Aegis. It took them only minutes to get the cables around the now downed mobile suit and then ditch the attack altogether and leave. 

"What do you mean Mwu? I wouldn't be surprised if Kira was in shock, but you make it sound different." I asked, the look on Mwu's face over the communicator worried me.

"Well... Its hard to explain, you will see what I mean when we get there." He said with a sigh, running a hand over his face, "But honestly I think I was just to soon..."

"Too soon? Too soon for what?" I asked confused. He look at me steadily for a moment before sighing again.

"Its Tolle..." He started...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_I was sacred. Really scared.

But not for myself; I was scared for Athrun. I had no clue what would happen to him, or if he was even still alive. I just had to hope that since they went to all the trouble of getting him alive that they would keep him alive.

The only thing I could do for the moment was try to keep myself busy, try to keep going. I had to be ready. Ready to go after him. So I was working on my Gundam, working and sleeping in there.

Mwu kept trying to bring me out, kept trying to get me to talk but his time it was different. There was a chance for me to save Athrun and I would take it. I wouldn't let it be the same as Tolle; I wouldn't let him die because of me.

"Kira!" Mwu yelled from below, dragging me from my thoughts and work. I barely faltered in my rapid typing at the sound of my name but I didn't stop working, nor did I answer.

The sound of the cable reached my ears and I knew he was coming up this time. Sure enough minutes later his blond hair appeared above the edge of the cockpit opening.

"Kira..." He said. In one had be held a tray of food, the other held him on the cable and though he tried to hide it behind the usual jovial mask, I could see the concern written on his face and in his eyes.

"I'm not hungry." I said softly as I typed. I was working to adapt the Gundam better to the Earth's environment and I knew it would take time and much fiddling.

Mwu sighed and placed the tray down near me.

"Were going over to the Archangel soon. You need to get your stuff and get cleaned up." He said in a stern voice. This time leaving no room for argument. "And if you don't come out and do it, ill drag you out. This isn't healthy Kira."

We have had this argument a few times now. It always ended the same.

"I have to do this Mwu. The quicker the better." I replied simply.

"Kira. You have other friends who are waiting to see you, so you want them to see you like this?" Mwu questioned softly. That threw me off track. I had avoided thinking about them, I had no idea how I was going to tell them about Tolle. But I knew that it was my right to tell them, I also knew that they wouldn't want me to be like this.

I made sure I knew where I was in the system, then with a sigh I got up, grabbing the food tray on the way.

"Ok." I said. Earning a small smile from Mwu. I was glad that he was here, he was like an older brother in ways and he had come after me when it seemed like no one else would.

"Thank you." He said as he began descending. Once he was down on the ground, he sent the cable back up for me then waited as I came down.

As we walked through the corridors towards my room, I tried to ignore the sympathetic and concerned looks I got from the people that we passed. It seemed that everyone on the ship had the same look when they looked at me, and although I knew they didn't mean anything bad, I couldn't help but be slightly annoyed.

"Kira!" A voice called from behind. It seemed a lot of people were calling out my name lately. I stopped and turned just in time to get a glimpse of Cagalli before she ran into me, pulling me into an unexpected embrace.

"C-Cagalli?" I questioned.

"You idiot! Took you long enough to come down from that machine!" She said.

I was surprised by her behavior but I figured that it didn't matter to much, so I hesitantly returned the gesture. We had been talking more and more before the last fight, and I had come to enjoy her company quite a lot. I had a feeling we would be good friends if we kept in touch.

"You should have come and seen me." Cagalli said as she pulled away. When I looked at her I saw not the same concern that everyone else had on their face, but an openness and friendliness instead.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Its ok. What are you doing now?" she asked.

"Getting some stuff, we are headed over to the Archangel soon." Mwu said.

"Hmm, ok... Well I gotta go sort something out. Talk later." She said, quite abruptly before waving and headed off somewhere in a rush as usual.

"Odd girl." Mwu stated as we watched her leave.

"Yeah..." I agreed...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<br>**_"Sir! Mission complete. We have obtained one of the two targets. Athrun Zala is currently being held at one of the Earth bases." The soldier said saluting.

"Good... And the Boy?" I asked. Everything was going perfectly.

"We have spies near by, watching their every move. As soon as there is a change you will be notified Sir." he continued.

"Very good. You have done well." I commended.

"Sir!" The soldier saluted once more before turning smartly and leaving.

"Soon Boy. Soon..." I muttered as I turned to look out the small window towards Earth.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

"You ok?" Mwu asked.

"Yeah... bit nervous I guess." I admitted. We were in the final staged of getting ready for the move over to the Archangel. All that was left to do was prepare and send the Gundam equipment. I was going to be the last one over as I had to take the Strike. I was nervous to see my friends again. One part of me was over joyed at knowing they were ok and that they would be waiting for me; but another part was worried about how to tell them about Tolle.

"Yeah, I feel for you Kid. It will be hard for a while, but they are good kids and they care for you very deeply. They wont blame you nor will they be mad." Mwu said placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I know, but it wont make it any easier... And I guess that I just wish Tolle could be here for this..." I said. I had found myself talking to Mwu a lot while getting ready and saying things that I had kept in since Tolle died.

"Well, I'm here for ya Kid. And so is everyone else."

"Thanks Mwu."

With that I headed for the Strike. I was still feeling apprehensive about everything, but I felt a little bit better.

"Kira! Mwu!" A familiar voice called once again. Both Mwu and I stopped and turned to see Cagalli running this way with a bag. I raised my eyebrow in question and I was sure Mwu was doing the same.

"I'm coming with you!" She replied happily. Mwu and I shared a look.

"Ok then." Mwu said.

I shook my head in slight amusement as I figured out that that was what Cagalli meant by 'sorting something out' earlier.

Once in the Strike I began preparing for the short journey to the Archangel. Murrue had the ship move close to this one to make it easier for the transport of the Gundam equipment. So it was only going to be a short boost to get when I needed to go...

The Archangel hadn't changed at all. The bay was exactly the same as before all this started; the same tech and mechanics were rushing around with the final preparations and I could see Murdoch yelling directions to those around him.

It was funny but for a moment as I walked the Strike to its usual position it was as if nothing had gone wrong and I was simply returning after a short fight. It almost felt like that was how it should have been. But it wasn't I was here now; Tolle was dead, and Athrun was in major trouble.

As soon as the Strike was in its place I powered down, knowing that it would be easier to get all the questions and explaining over and done with. And also hoping that my resolve would stay steady while I told them.

As I lowered to the ground I could feel every eye in the launch bay on me. It was rather unpleasant but I kept my face straight and kept moving. Once I was on the ground I heard a quick snap from Murdoch telling the men under him to keep working, and once more I was grateful of him being around.

I could almost sense them before I heard them; all my friends were coming my way. I could feel my chest tighten at the thought of telling them, and I had to work to keep my breathing even. I heard their footsteps grow closer, but I couldn't bring myself to turn and face them yet.

"Kira?..." The voice was soft and full of question. Mir.

I turned to face them slowly, just managing to keep my emotions under check.

"Hey..." I said, managing a small smile.

"Oh Kira!" Mir said, rushing forward and pulling my into an embrace. The others followed and soon I was surrounded by my friends. I couldn't keep my eyes from watering as I again thought of what I had to tell them.

"We were so worried about you." Mir continued.

"Yeah. Don't do that to us again." Sai cut in. _How could I tell them?_ I thought sadly.

"I-I missed you guys too..." I said softly.

We stayed that way for a while and I found myself wishing Athrun was here to see this. He had doubted my friends for so long that I wished he was here to see this. But I knew that this happiness would only last for so much longer.

Mir pulled away and look at me with a big smile on her face.

"Tolle never stopped believing that you were ok, and that we could get you back." She said. My heart missed a beat at that and I looked away.

"Mir..." I started, "Everyone..." I couldn't quite bring myself to continue.

"Kira? Whats wrong?" Kuzzey said; speaking up for the first time.

"I-I... It's..." I faltered and felt a tear roll down my cheek.

"Kira?" Kuzzey said, "Where... Where is Tolle?" Mir and Sai looked at him funny for a moment, but I knew that Kuzzey had worked out roughly what was wrong.

"He-He's... He's... gone." I said at last. Silence fell like a blanket over everyone at those small words.

"What... What do you mean Kira?" Mir asked, "What do you mean 'gone'?"

I looked up at my friend; she had gone ghostly pale and her eyes are wide with disbelief. I felt my heart break all over again and I knew it was going to be a long few hours...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<br>**_My head hurt. My body ached... It was hard to think through the pounding in my ears.

I woke up. The blackness of uncomfortable sleep fading away as I blinked in the harsh light. I lay there for a while trying to sort through the pain and my thoughts to remember what happened. I wondered where Kira was, I wondered where _I _was, I wondered why I was so sore. But for what seemed like forever nothing came to me. Instead I decided I would try and get some sleep decided I needed to get better quicker to find out what had happened.

There were quick flashed of images; explosions, beams of light, GINNs, then the Strike. Falling. My eyes opened with a flash as everything came back. The last thing I could remember was watching Kira fall then heading over, then pain and darkness.

"Where am I?" I asked hoarsely...

* * *

><p><strong>A bit longer than usual, so I hope it makes up for how long it took to update :) <strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**End of year exams finished, Leavers Dinner was a success, end of year camp was awesome, and Christmas is now behind me. I should be able to update more often for a few weeks, at least until I move; it might be a bit slow then as well because I will be settling in :) **

**This chapter will be mostly focused on Athrun. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 23; Confined<strong>

_**Athrun's POV;**_

My head was still pounding, but at least now I could think clearly. I had been fading in and out of consciousness for what could have been hours, and this was the first time I had managed to stay awake for longer than a few moments.

I had no idea where I was. I had no idea how long I had been out. And probably worst of all; I had no idea if Kira was alive or dead. The last I had seen of him was when he had fallen from the side of the ship.

It was ironic really, that despite my situation I was more worried about another person. But it had always been that way between Kira and I; we had always cared more for each other than for ourselves. While we were together it was great, because we could reassure each other but once we were apart nothing but worry plagued me.

Soon enough I knew that to find out if Kira was fine, I would have to escape from here and find him. But as usual there was an issue or two with my plan;

One: I had no idea of the layout on the place I was in, so with no weapons or form of defense I had minimal chances of success.

Two: My left wrist was chained to the bed. I wasn't sure if I should view it as a compliment that they would go so far to keep me contained, but right now it only proved to be an annoyance.

I was in trouble right now and I knew it...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

"Supreme Chairman Zala." I greeted with a swift salute before relaxing, knowing that I could do so and receive no reprimands. "We have one of the two boys." I continued.

Patrick Zala; current Supreme Chairman and father of Athrun Zala. The reunion that was to come was promising to be a good one. The foolish young Zala had listened to intently to the words of the Boy an had come to be more troublesome than I had first thought. But in the end it was working to my advantage; distracting all the right people and making it easier for me to push my own plans forward without inhibitions.

"Which one?" Patrick asked, turning to face me from his position near the window. He had been standing, surveying the plats below him when I had entered and had spared me little acknowledgment. But just below his uncaring mask a glimmer of something was showing, but I couldn't quite understand exactly what it was I saw.

"Your... Son." I replied, putting a fake sympathetic tone into my voice in hopes of drawing out whatever emotion he was trying to hide. That idea was soon thwarted when he simply nodded and turned back to face the window.

"Where is he? Here in the PLANTs?" He asked. I was quite annoyed at the fact that he had hidden his emotions so well. I had made a habit of making sure that I knew what those of importance were thinking so as to make manipulating them easier.

"No, he is being held on one of our Earth bases, not to far from where he was caught." I replied easily.

"Why risk keeping him so close to his friends?" Patrick asked, this time failing to mask some of the anger in his voice.

"Because, we wish to apprehend the Boy as well. That will be made easier when he attempts to rescue young Master Zala." I explained. _But the Boy will never leave there_, I thought, _I have my own plans for him_.

"What makes you so sure that the 'Boy', as you refer to him, _will_ attempt to infiltrate a secure base to try and rescue Athrun."

"Because I have watched the way the two act around each other. If one is in danger the other leaps in the way. When we were holding the Boy on the ship, Athrun unconsciously gravitated towards the boy and was always trying to make the stay 'better' if you will. Since they escaped, I have been studying their movements and reports of the battles my men have been in. One thing is always certain; one will jump to the others aid. It was using that piece of information that we managed to capture your son."

I made sure to limit any further arguments from the Chairman with my explanation, having grown tired of his questions.

"Hmmm, yes." Patrick said after a moment of silence. "It seems that I am over due for a visit with my... Son."

If I had not been in his presence at that moment I would have smiled, because with that one sentence Patrick Zala was playing right into my plan...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<br>**_I was starting to get restless. I had at least expected some one to come in for some reason or another during the past few hours. But it seemed that luck was against me this time. All that I could do was lay here and stare at the ceiling and occasionally tug as the chain around my wrist.

The chain wasn't constricting in any way; I was able to sit up and move around as long as I didn't try to actually get off the bed. Once I tried to go that far the chain would reach its length. I was hoping that someone would come in and I could try and talk them into taking the chain off.

I was sure that I had memorized all the blemishes in on the bleach white walls and ceiling; those blemishes being few and far between. After the last few weeks with Kira and his friends I had grown accustom to having someone to talk to when things got quiet, so this sudden lack of entertainment left me quite board.

I lay there for a while longer, thinking about anything that popped into my head. I eventually grew so caught up in my own thoughts that I barely noticed the door opening and jumped when I saw someone standing off to the side of the room. It took me a second to recognize the person standing there but once I did I relaxed some what.

"Nicol!" I said, sitting up. Nicol. It was good to see him again; I had often wondered if he was ok.

"Hey Athrun." He replied, although the greeting was as usual I could tell that something was troubling him. His eyes looked sad and his stance radiated tense.

"What is it?" I asked, instantly reverting to the way we once talked when I called myself a part of the Le Creuset team. Since I had left, I had managed to get Kira to tell me all that happened between him and my old commander and had been furious afterwards.

"Athrun. What the hell happened?" Nicol asked sadly. "You were suppose to disappear after you got out, not run around getting in fights every other day."

"We tried, hell we couldn't have tried harder. But some how they were always a step ahead of us Nicol. Always. It didn't matter what we tried, they were always there waiting... We were so close Nicol, we could literally see our goal. Then... this." I replied, looking down as once more worries of Kira's well being made itself known in my mind.

"Well it's about to get worse for you and your friend." Nicol said as he got up from off the wall. "I don't have long so I will give you the short version; Kira is alive and you are bait to make sure they get him too."

I stared at Nicol in shock. One part of me was over joyed at the news because Kira was alive and if there was ever someone I trusted to give me that news it was Nicol. But on the flip side; they hadn't given up on getting Kira, a fact that shouldn't have surprised me, and I was the bait to get him here.

"Listen Athrun. That's not all; Supreme Chairman Zala is on his way down and spells nothing but trouble for you. Or for Kira if the Chairman is still around and he gets caught."

"You make it sound like Kira is already as good as caught." I said, ignoring the part about my Father. He was another worry for another time.

"Athrun, man. You have no idea the type of traps and back up traps the commander has set up." Nicol insisted. He then looked at his watch and shook his head. "I gotta go. Dearka won't be able to keep the guards busy for much longer and Yzak only promised a few minutes of footage blackout."

I was shocked. Dearka? Yzak? Helping Nicol to get information to me? Nicol must have seen the confusion on my face as he headed for the door.

"You may be a traitor to the PLANTs, but your still a member of our team Athrun. Even Yzak thinks it, even if he wont admit it... We are all looking out for you Athrun, ok. Be careful." Nicol said, and before I could reply he was gone and the door was once again firmly shut and out of my reach.

My mind was spinning. I knew I could always count on Nicol, and even Dearka. But there had been little more than amnesty between Yzak and I. Yes I trusted him with my life on the battle field; that was ingrained, he was my team mate. But he had always made it clear that he didn't like me much, surprising me on occasion but never to go as far as this time. Where if he was caught he would have no excuse.

I knew that if I ever got the chance I would find a way to thank them all. Despite the fact that I was technically a traitor and that I had chosen someone else over them, they all still stood by me.

Even though my current situation had not changed, I suddenly found that my heart felt lighter, and even though I had no cause to, I was viewing the future with a brighter out look. The next few hours were spent formulating an escape plan, or rather several escape plans depending on the different circumstances that could come my way.

This time when the door opened I was ready and not lost in thought. I had hoped that it was Nicol again. But those hopes were quickly dashed as I took in the tall, familiar figure before me. For some time we both just stared at each other. I knew that I had no idea what to say. Hell even when I wasn't being held prisoner and labeled a traitor I usually had little to say to this person.

He was the same, he usually left others to tell me what needed to be done and hadn't spent time with me personally for years out side of work. As usual his face was a mask, that of a skilled politician who had nothing but the top seat on the mind.

After a little while longer of silence he finally took the last few steps to be actually in the room, letting the door close behind him. Even then the silence continued; our breathing the only thing to be heard in the room. Eventually I'd had enough of it and decided to take the first plunge.

"Hello... Father." I said, using a title that would normally get me in trouble these days. This time however the only indication that it annoyed him was the slight narrowing of hos eyes.

"Athrun." He acknowledged...

* * *

><p><strong>Slightly shorter than usual but I hope it's still good. The next one will hopefully be a bit longer and I will probably swap POV's a bit more. <strong>

**Please Review and tell me what you think. :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**I finally have the time to actually write! And I love it. All this free time is something I haven't had since around September. Anyway, on with the story...**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 24: Plans and Revelations<strong>

_**Athrun's POV:  
><strong>_"What do you want?" I asked. My Father being here annoyed me; it was probably the only time he voluntarily chosen to see me; and I was a prisoner. What was worse would be that it had to have been him who gave the order. Even if his grounds were good, most would have just been executed on the battle field for being a traitor. And I would have preferred that right now.

The man before me studied me for a moment before speaking;

"Why would you betray me?" He asked. One would usually thing that a sad or confused tone would go with a question like that, but all I got a arrogance.

"Because I was shown a new way to fight. One that didn't result in endless death." I answered honestly. "We don't have to kill all the Naturals. There are those who do accept us."

A strange look crossed my Fathers face; it looked almost hurt, like what I had said had caused him pain.

"And your Mother?" He asked, causing me to flinch. "You forgive them for _that_?"

The truth was that I couldn't forgive them for that. But... I think that I could accept it. There were many on both sides that had lost a lot more than I had, and many of those weren't even able to try and fight for what they lost.

"No..." I said, and frowned when he adopted a smug look, "But... there are others who have lost more. We should be fighting to prevent that, not to make others suffer the same."

My Father looked shocked. But anger soon replaced that.

"I had hoped that you could be reasoned with, you are a strong soldier Athrun, and you could have had a bright future-"

"A future full of nothing but hate and bloodshed!" I interrupted.

"But! It seems that while Kira is alive you will not listen. Originally I had planned to also have him join us, as he obviously has talent, but I see that if you are this stubborn from just being around him for a short time; that he must be permanently removed." My Father snapped.

My blood ran cold. And Nicol's words came back to me; "_You have no idea the type of traps and back up traps the commander has set up..." _If Kira did try and come... I wasn't sure now if he could get out, especially if death hung over his head if he was caught.

"I see that caught your attention." Father said, once again smug. But this time I could find no words to reply...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mwu's POV:<strong>_

I was watching Kira, wishing I could do something to help him. I had been correct in saying that his friends wouldn't blame him or be mad at him. But that didn't stop him from blaming himself. The last few hours had been hard on all the teens and there had been many tears.

His friends were now sleeping, probably dreaming of their missing companion. Kira had found his way to the observation deck, just like before all this started. He was now sitting on the ledge and looking out into space.

I found myself wondering what Kira was thinking. All his aches and pains from Tolle's death had been re-opened today when he had told the others what had happened. That mixed with Athrun's capture had to have a bad effect on him.

I sincerely believed that a kid like his should have never needed to fight. He should have just grown up and led a good life using the brains he obviously had. Not have to fight on the battle field ever other day and keep losing those who he cared about.

"How is he?" I turned to see Murrue walking up.

"Not to good." I replied. "He's taking it hard."

Murrue nodded, and came up to stand beside me.

"I wish I had never brought them with me." She said sadly as she looked at Kira.

"But if you didn't then we would probably all be dead, and the Strike would either be destroyed or in the enemies hands." I said softly. And I knew it was true, Athrun had explained the way that Le Creuset had used the Archangel and its occupants to keep Kira under control. But at the same time it had explained why they had never attacked us while we had little chance of defending ourselves.

"I guess..." Murrue said. I put a comforting arm around her shoulders and we stood like that for a while. Watching Kira I once again felt sad that I couldn't do much for him, but I was surprised when he stood abruptly and headed for the door...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_I had work to do. I couldn't sit around here while Athrun was in trouble and needed me. Cagalli had told me that she knew people who hopefully be able to find out where they took Athrun. I got up from where I had been sitting and headed to the door .

When I walked out I nearly ran into Mwu and Captain Ramius. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the two; Mwu had his arm around Ms Murrue's shoulders. I then noticed that they were in front of a window that gave them a view inside the observation room. _Had they been watching me? _I wondered.

"Uh... Mwu," I greeted, "Ms. Murrue."

"Uh, hey Kira." Mwu said.

Silence fell for a while as well all just stood there. Eventually I decided once more that I had work to do and moved past them.

"Kira?" Ms Murrue asked. I stopped and turned to look at her.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Are you... Are you ok?" She looked worried, and I realized that I hadn't really talked to her since I had gotten back.

"I'll be fine." I said honestly. Well I hoped I would be fine anyway.

"Where are you off to?" Mwu asked.

"Do some work. I need to be ready." I replied. Ms Murrue looked confused and Mwu once more cast a concerned look my way. He knew what I had planned and even though he wasn't stopping me, I could tell that he wasn't to fond of the plan either.

"What do you mean Kira?" Ms Murrue asked.

"He want's to save his friend; Athrun." Mwu explained.

"What? Kira... We have no idea where your friend even is. But where ever he is, he will be heavily guarded..." Ms Murrue objected.

"I don't care." I replied stubbornly, "I lost him once, and I won't lose him again."

I didn't wait for an answer before I turned around and headed down the hallway at a run. I had to do this. I just had to...

* * *

><p><strong>Well, no where near as long as I had hoped this chapter would be, but of well. Hope you enjoyed it. Things will start heating up once more soon enough.<strong>


	25. Chapter 25

**OK I have finally officially settled down into my new home (minus the excessive heat anyways) and I have adjusted to the time zones. So now I can get into writing again, well until school starts on Wednesday. Hmmm, so much to do. **

**Anyways I apologize profusely for the (over) month long update, and I really hope to update more often from now on. **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 25: Searching<strong>

_**Kira's POV:  
><strong>_"Kira!" I turned to look at Cagalli as she made her way past the bay crew, I was really coming to appreciate her constant companionship since I met her. When I studied her face I saw a new determination blazing in her eyes. Had she found something? She had somehow managed to contact someone, though she wouldn't tell us who, and gotten a full search party to track Athrun. That had been a few days ago now, but I hadn't given up yet. I had the Strike ready to go any the first notification.

As Cagalli got to me she took a few seconds to get her breath back before she looked at me with a bright smile.

"We found him!" She said breathlessly. I was speechless for a while; I was filled with both hope and dread, we had found him, but had we found him quick enough.

"Where?" I asked quietly after a while. At that question Cagalli's smile faded.

"On one of ZAFTs earth bases... We were able to track the Aegis there, they had been sloppy with covering up their tracks." She said. I nodded and thought this over for a while.

"Thank you." I said at last. Cagalli's face turned soft then.

"It was nothing. I only wish I could do more." She said and surprised me when she hugged me. After a few awkward seconds I returned the hug. "The coordinates will be sent to the Strike soon, and my people had offered to be a diversion for you to get in there."

I thought this over for a while. I might not have known much about the people that had helped Cagalli but I knew that there wasn't many of them. So going up against a base would be suicide... Yet, I would probably need the help to get close enough to hopefully get to Athrun...

"I... Thank you, but I can't let more people die." I said at length. Cagalli nodded slowly but I could tell that she was trying to think of a way around it.

This time I surprised her with a hug and thanked her once more before I moved off to get ready. The sooner I left the better, I thought to myself. Cagalli followed behind me for a while until she branched off with a thoughtful look on her face.

I felt numb as I pulled on the flight suit that had become such a large part of my life in the past few weeks. I had lost Tolle, something that still ached in my chest, especially when I saw Mir and the others. I knew I had been avoiding them but I couldn't help it, my mission to get Athrun may go to hell yet and that meant that I could also die. I wasn't afraid but I guessed that it would be easier for them if I distanced myself now. Now I had also lost Athrun, and I could only hope that it would not be permanently.

With a sigh I grabbed my helmet and made my way into the corridor once more. The numbness only seemed to grow as I made my way back to the launch deck. It was like I was now only a back seat driver in my own body. I was leaving everything behind, and only hoping that I could make up for the mistakes I had made.

The launch bay was quiet when I finally got there, the crew seemed to have cleared out and I guessed that Murdoch had figured out that I was going. He was one of the few that actually knew what I was doing. Most just assumed that I had been preparing the Strike in the event of attack, and that included my friends. Only Tolle had really known about Athrun, the others had known that the strange red Gundam that had once chased us had been helping me, but they soon forgot when I broke the news of Tolle.

I was just grabbing hold of the pulley line that would take me to the cockpit of the Strike when I heard one of the doors open behind me. A quick glace showed Cagalli running over. I felt a dry smirk reach my lips when I thought of how often she seemed to be running through that door.

"Kira! I know you said that you don't want help but your getting it." Cagalli said in her loud voice once she got closer. The statement surprised me.

"Cag-" I started.

"No." She interrupted, "Your going to need the help, and they aren't going to be putting themselves in too much danger. They are going to use long range attacks to draw the fire away from you then they are going to retreat." Cagalli said the words bluntly and left no room for argument.

"Cagalli, I don't want anyone else to die." I pressed.

"They offered of their own free will Kira. These people are brave a good fighters, they also want nothing more than to help what they see as a good cause." she said softly.

"Who are 'they' anyway?" I asked frowning, "And what do you mean good cause?"

"They are an elite fighting squad from Orb," She said surprising me, especially since she had been so secretive about it before. "I've told them about you and Athrun; how you have both been fighting to do what is right and not just what your told from a certain side. I believe, and so do they, that you two deserve that chance to be free of this. They also believe that you guys could be great leaders one day. If given the chance. Kira, you and Athrun have been able to see the foolishness behind this war and now you have been, knowingly or not, changing the war. The war is still raging, especially up in space but people, civilians and soldiers alike, have heard of you from their respective sides and agree with what you are doing. "

"And what are we doing Cagalli?" I asked sharply.

"You are fighting for what you believe and not being swayed by what you have heard." Cagalli replied heatedly. "Listen both of you have lost people important," I looked away at this, "but you are fighting past it... The cycle of war is cruel and stupid; when someone gets killed, another gets killed for killing and the cycle repeats. Athrun was coming with you to an Earth Alliance ship, the same side that caused his mothers death. And you learned to trust him again after him and his friends blew up your home."

I shook my head hardly believing what I was hearing. I hadn't noticed before how much Cagalli had picked up on what had happened to us, and she also seemed to know a lot about what Athrun and I had spoken about; we had criticized this war and its pointlessness many times and asked many questions that had no answers, but mostly we were fighting to protect each other and those we cared about.

"How can you command an elite squad from the Orb nations?" I asked instead of voicing my other thoughts. This time she looked away and turned a bit pensive.

"Because I'm the daughter of the leader of Orb..." She muttered quietly.

"What?" I had not expected that.

"I'm the daughter of the leader of Orb!" She yelled, as she usually does when she was nervous of worried.

"Ok ok." I said softly, my mind still reeling. Finally I shook my head and took a deep breath. "Fine." I muttered.

"Huh?" She asked confused, then I realized that she probably had no idea what I was saying fine to.

"I'll accept the help from the Orb people. Even if I don't like it..." I elaborated. A smile came forth on Cagalli's face again and her eyes softened once again. She stepped forward and this time I was almost expecting the hug.

"Bring him back." She said softly.

I pulled back and nodded and once more made to grab the line when another voice called out across the launch bay and several sets of feet could be heard running this way.

"Kira!"

I didn't turn at the sound of my name this time. I already knew who they were and I was scared to face them right now.

"Kira... Where are you going?" Mir's voice was soft and sad and I could feel all my friends eyes on my back. I suddenly found it hard to reply with the lump that had formed in my throat.

"There's... There's something I have to do." I said without turning.

"Kira... Please talk to us... Whats going on?" Sai said softly.

With a sigh I steeled myself and turned to face my friends. They were all watching me sadly and looked like they could use more sleep.

"I have a friend that needs help." I said, my voice sounding stronger than I felt.

"A friend?" Kuzzey asked.

"Yes." I replied. "Its... Complicated... Ill explain when I get back with him." _If I get back_ I thought sadly.

"But... where are you going?" Mir asked. "Why are you leaving alone?" Mir was the one who looked the worst; she was still pale and her eyes were red and puffy, suggesting that she had been crying not long ago, she had bags under her eyes and she just seemed painfully sad.

"I won't be alone." I said and shot a quick look at Cagalli, also opting to ignore the first question. "I will have help."

"Kira..." Mir said, obviously not liking the way I was leaving.

"I have to go." I said abruptly and turned. I hated seeing my friends upset, and I hated it even more when I was the cause of that.

"Promise that you will come back." Sai said suddenly and each of my friends made a noise of agreement.

"I-I... I promise." I said with a sigh and only wished that I would be able to keep that promise.

With that I grabbed the rope and made my way up to the cockpit of the Strike. Once there I quickly strapped myself in and fired up the system. A quick check of the launch deck showed that my friends were now standing on the viewing platform. With a sad smile I looked at each of their faces. And I really, really hoped that I wouldn't break my promise.

"Kira, what are you doing?" The sound of Ms. Murrue's voice cut through the com in the Strike.

"Doing what I have to." I answered truthfully.

"Come on Kid, you can't go on your own." Mwu's voice cut in.

"Please just open the doors." I asked as I moved to stand near said doors.

"Kira you have not been given permission to leave the ship." Murrue's voice said sternly.

"Open them, or I will blast them open." I threatened. I really hoped that they would open them because I didn't like the idea of actually damaging the ship that held my friends.

After a little while the doors slowly opened. And I breather a silent breath of relief.

"You had better get back alive Kid." Mwu said.

"Thank you." I said before closing the com line and launching the Strike.

_Ok Athrun... Hang on..._ I thought fiercely.

* * *

><p><strong>Well I hope it wasn't to bad, the excitement should start in the next chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. :)<strong>


	26. Chapter 26

**Well this is a chapter long overdue. It had been nearly 2 moths since I last updates and I am really sorry, school has been crazy and the homework load even crazier. At last I have found some free time to write. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 26: Infiltration<strong>

_**Kira's POV:**_

The flight was uneventful, but it was long enough that I began to wonder if I would have the power left to fight my way in and out of the base where Athrun was, and with very little to occupy me I started thinking about the different ways this could end.

Would I get Athrun out? Would I end up being caught as well? Would they just kill us both?

Those thoughts and more circled around my head until I was close enough to the base that I was able to turn my full attention to the tactics of getting in and not the 'what if's'.

I stopped the Gundam when I thought I was just beyond censer range and studied the base before me. It was huge and spanned over a large area, it looked to be four storied high at the highest but I also suspected that it went underground as well. There was patrolling GINNs around the area along with the grounds personnel.

This was going to be difficult.

I knew that just charging in would get me no where; I would be over powered and taken down quickly. Yet if I tried to leave the Strike and head in on foot I would never make it through the boundary.

I took the Strike to a small patch of trees off to the west and powered down while I thought. This wouldn't be easy... Quite a few ideas passed through my head, each more outlandish that the last and nearly all of them I disregarded instantly. Finally after what felt like forever I settled on an idea; yet another risky and dangerous idea. The only major flaw was that I wasn't sure how to get out once I got in and got Athrun. This was the best I could come up with though so I decided that I would leave the rest to chance and began prepping the Strike for my plan.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

I was starting to really hate the look of this room. I had spent the largest amount of my time just staring at the ceiling and I was pretty sure that I would be able to recall the exact positions and lengths of the few cracks and blemishes that marred said ceiling.

I had had very little contact with anyone since my father had left and I was beginning to wonder if that was good or bad. At least if they were trying to get information out of me I would be distracted and might not be so board.

As usual my thoughts turned to Kira and what Nicol and my Father had said. Nicol had been insistent that the traps laid out for Kira were extensive and my Father had said that if Kira was caught he would be killed. I sighed. The news that Kira was alive had left me feeling slightly more hopeful but after a few days of waiting I was beginning to feel anxiety creep up on me.

"Kira..." I muttered. "You had better not get yourself killed."...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

Things were going bad. The GINNs had intercepted me sooner than I had planned and now it was going to be hard to make my plan work as I had wanted it to.

As I dodged another shot from one of the GINNs I caught sight of what I was looking for and knew that this would be my only chance. A part of me hated that this would be the last time I would be able to fly the Strike, but Athrun was more important.

Quickly accessing the mainframe of the Strike I pressed in the code that I had arranged earlier and felt the expected shudder run through the Strike. This was it, if it didn't work now, then I would either die or be caught... _It has to work! _I told myself _For Athrun..._ I punched in the final code and held tight as the Strike shuddered more violently this time and a small explosion from the thrusters occurred.

Looking down I was right above my mark; a small, clear courtyard; most likely a training ground. I quickly put in some more commands into the Gundam before unstrapping and opening the cockpit. As the smoke from the thrusters hid me from view, I jumped.

The air whistled past me and the ground was rushing up to meet me at an alarming rate. But still I waited. I waited until I was sure that the GINNs had gone past in chase of the now empty Strike. Then I pulled the cord and felt the parachute snap open, jarring my body from the sudden decrease in speed.

I hit the ground a bit harder than I expected and ended up winding myself but other than that I was fine. As soon as I had some air in my lungs I stood up and looked around; the yard was still empty and the sounds of the GINNs were now faint.

As I stood there I almost couldn't believe that I had made it. But I knew that to stay there would be suicide so I quickly moved towards the nearest door. I was thankful when I found the door open and moved cautiously inside.

I silently moved down the corridor and looked around... There was no one.

I found this kind of strange, sure I didn't want to meet anyone, but at the same time there was a level 1 alert up. Surely there would be people posted around here as well.

I shrugged it up as luck and began moving again, keeping my senses on high to make sure that I wouldn't be surprised by anyone. Now for the hard part. Finding Athrun...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

I could hear the alarms, and I could only guess as to why they were going. Not many people would attack a ZAFT base like this one; not unless they had a death wish. So either the Earth Forces were getting extremely desperate or Kira was here. I found myself wishing the former was true.

Knocking on the door to my containment room I attempted to get the guards attention, hoping that I would then be able to get some answers as to what was going on. This went on for about five minutes before I gave up and returned to sit on the small bed.

_Dammit Kira, if you get caught ill kick your ass!_ I thought sourly.

I jumped up at the sound of the door opening. Nicol walked in and I breathed a sigh that I hadn't realized I had been holding. Then I saw Nicol's face and all the tension that had been released when I realized it was him, instantly returned.

"Nicol, whats happening?" I asked quickly, moving over to him.

"You have trouble Athrun. Kira is here, and we think he is somewhere in the base." Nicol said, worry coating his voice.

I looked at him for a moment before speaking again.

"Did... Did he get caught?" I asked, although Nicol hadn't said that I was still worried.

"Not as far as I know, he used the Strike as a decoy it seems and got in somewhere else. The commander is going nuts trying to find him.."

Instant relief flooded through my veins but it was short lived with Nicol's next sentence.

"The commander has said to make sure that all sentries herd him here. Then they pounce."

I didn't know what to say to that and I found that I suddenly wanted to sit down. I headed back over to the bed and looked at Nicol. He was watching me with concerned eyes.

"What do we do?" I asked. I knew that I couldn't ask Nicol to expose himself as a traitor and help Kira, but at the same time I couldn't let Kira just get caught either. Not when it meant he would die as a result. Nicol looked at the ground and then back up at me.

"I don't know Athrun..." he said sadly. I knew he was fond of Kira, even though they had only known each other a short while.

"Dammit. If he gets caught he will be put to death!" I yelled, not sure who I was yelling at.

"Death?" Nicol asked. I realized then that my Father and the commander had different ideas on what they wanted to do once they had Kira.

"If my Father has anything to do with it, then yeah. Death..." I said flatly.

Nicol was silent for a while and I began wondering if he was going to reply at all.

"Maybe..." Nicol said then stopped. I got the feeling that he was trying to think of a way to change the situation. I couldn't help but feel a bit pessimistic then though; how could we do anything? I was stuck here and Nicol wouldn't be able to influence the situation without being noticed.

Silence once again ruled over the room as we were both absorbed in our own thoughts.

"I got it!" Nicol said, shattering the silence. I looked up at him and saw a twinkle in his eyes that had previously not been there.

"What?" I asked, feeling my hopes rising despite my efforts to keep them down.

"I know how to get both of you out of here..." Nicol said enthusiastically. "But it won't be easy."

"I don't care, it better than sitting here." I countered. There was no way I was letting Kira get hurt, not if I was still breathing...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

I was getting worried.

I hadn't seen a single soldier or ZAFT personnel since I had gotten inside the building some time ago. I supposed that I should be glad that I wasn't running for my life though these unknown halls, but I just couldn't shake a sense of unease that this wasn't right.

I paused at the next corner in the hall way and looked around slowly. Still no one. This couldn't be right...

I turned down the new corridor and walked along silently. I had no idea where I was going and that was evident, for all I knew I could be heading in the opposite direction of Athrun. My only guess would be that they would be holding him in the underground levels where it would be harder to escape from.

I sighed. This could take a while, but the longer it took the harder it would be to get out. By now they should have noticed that the strike was a decoy and that I was not in there.

_Athrun where the hell are you?_ I asked silently, even though I knew it wouldn't give me an answer.

The lack of people continued on for a while as I moved through the complex, finding that every step I took only increased my feeling of danger and wrongness. Soon I stumbled upon an elevator and was glad to see a difference in the constant theme of the corridors.

Pressing a button I quickly stood to the side and waited, holding my breath. If someone stepped out of the elevator I waned to have the element of surprise if nothing else. After what felt like hours the _ding_ that represented the elevators arrival sounded and the sound of the elevator doors opening rang though the small area.

I waited for a second longer to see if anyone was going to exit before slowly looking around the corner and into the elevator. Thankfully it was empty.

I moved in silently and looked at the buttons, quickly selecting the one that would take me down. As the doors closed and the corridors beyond disappeared I began wondering what would happen when I reached the bottom.

Soon enough the elevator chimed for the bottom floor and the doors began to open. I tensed waiting to see if the long over due presence of ZAFT personnel would finally happen. The doors opened all the way and I saw no one standing there.

With a sigh I moved forward and out of the elevator into a corridor the same as those on the floors above. Looking down each side of the corridor I saw no movement and stood for a while debating on which way to go.

I finally settled on heading left, and moved along close to the wall, listening intently for the slightest sound of someone approaching. The bad feeling I had had for a while intensified even more as I moved along.

Once again this resumed for a while as I walked along; finding no one in the corridors but the constant feeling threatening to make me panic. Without noticing it, I began to move faster and became more harried. It was probably why it took me so long to realize that there was talking up ahead.

I froze.

The sound of the voices grew slightly louder and I knew that they were coming my way. I began slowly and silently moving backwards, keeping my eyes on the point where this corridor branched off into another one.

I took another few steps back and nearly yelped when a strong grip grabbed my arm, but a firm hand across my mouth stopped the sound before anything escaped. In a quickly flurry of movements I found myself dragged backwards and into a dark room. My thrashing and struggling did nothing but make the persons grip on me tighten. I panicked when I felt a cloth replace the hand over my mouth and attempted to hold my breath, fearing what could be on the fabric.

My lungs burned and my chest seemed to convulse in an effort to get air and all to soon that need won out and I took in a ragged breath. A strong scent filled my mouth and nose and quickly clouded my mind. And all to soon my body grew numb and my thoughts slow as unconsciousness over came me.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope everyone likes it. <strong>


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry for the delay in updates but the end of term assignments were crazy! Aside from that I have also managed to lose my thumbdrive and that means all my previous chapters and a tone of work. **

**Aside from that I hope you all enjoy, there are a few twists and turns coming up :)**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 27: Reunion<strong>

_**Kira POV:**_

My head was killing me.

My thoughts were slow and sluggish as I tried to wake up and I had to fight through the haze to try and remember what had happened.

I had come after Athrun, hoping to rescue him despite the low odds of me actually being able to achieve that. I had jumped from the Strike to both create a distraction and hopefully get inside undetected; something that I was still hoping I had accomplished because I didn't like the idea of giving up the Strike for no reason.

After I got inside I had moved throughout the compound in an attempt to find Athrun blindly, eventually making my way into the lower levels. That's when I had heard them; people coming my way, and had tried to move out of sight...

My eyes shot open as I remembered being dragged into a room. It was dark around me but I was still able to make out the shapes of a general bunk room around me.

This wasn't what I expected.

Sitting up slowly, I scanned the room to try and locate the ones who had brought me here. Maybe they had left?

"Took you long enough to wake up." The familiar voice was accompanied by a bright light being switched on overhead, causing me to squint and try to shield my eyes.

"Yzak?" I asked hesitantly, I was sure that it was him that had spoken but I didn't know if he was here to help me or not. He had always seemed so angry, especially at me for killing those pilots in Heliopolis.

"Why the _hell_ would you even try to infiltrate an enemy base with no inside knowledge, no plan, generally no damn idea, and by yourself!"Yzak growled.

As my eyes adjusted to the light I focused on him; he was standing near the far wall scowling at me.

"I...uh..." I started but couldn't finish. I didn't have an answer. Yzak rolled his eyes at me.

"The commander would have eaten you for lunch." He spat and I flinched, remembering my previous time with the strange commander.

A tense silence filled the room after that and we stayed that way for a few minutes.

"Why are you here?" I asked at last breaking that silence. Yzak raised his eyebrows at that.

"You can thank Nicol." He answered, his voice as usual, sharp and condescending, "Little baby decided that we needed to help Athrun, but to do that we would have to help _you_."

"So it was you that dragged me in here." I said frowning slightly.

"Yes." Yzak replied shortly, "You could hardly keep waltzing around the base like you were, would have been suicide. The quickest way to get you and be sure that you didn't freak out or anything was to shut you up for a few hours. Also helped to throw the commander off your trail."

"Off my... You mean that Le Creuset knew where I was?" I asked, a chill going down my spine at the thought of how easy it would have been for Le Creuset to corner me.

"Of course he did! He knew where you were from the start! He was toying with you, making you think you were getting somewhere before he closed the net." Yzak growled.

I sat back and closed my eyes, had I done anything right?

"Although, your little stunt with the Gundam did throw him off slightly. Would never have thought you would do something like that." Yzak said, turning his face away from me to scowl at the floor.

"What do we do now?" I asked softly. My mind was whirling with this new information, but most of all I was surprised that Yzak and Nicol were helping me get to Athrun. I hope.

Before Yzak could answer the door opened, making me jump. I watched as Nicol and the other pilot Dearka entered, their eyes quickly taking in the situation.

"Hey Kira." Nicol greeted, acting as though there was nothing out of the ordinary happening. I hadn't seen him since Le Creuset had had me caught as we tried to flee Heliopolis and it was comforting to see his open, friendly face again. Dearka made his way over to Yzak and slouched against the wall there watching everyone.

"Uh... Hey Nicol." I responded.

"It's good to see you awake again, but we need to get moving soon." Nicol continued, lowering a bag he had been carrying onto the ground, it was clear that he was stressed and in a rush with the way he moved.

"Moving to where?" I asked. I was feeling lost and it seemed as though I had absolutely no control on the situations around me. Nicol looked up at me with an amused smile on his lips, his warm eyes shining slightly.

"To get Athrun, of course." He replied, "But we need to suit you up first."

"Suit me up?" I asked frowning. Nicol just smirked at me before unzipping the bad and pulling out the top from a ZAFT uniform.

"Your joining our ranks... temporarily." Nicol said as he tossed me the gear. "Meet us outside the door when your ready.

I nodded and watched as the three pilots walked out of the room, the door closing with a soft mechanic _thud_ behind them. I looked down at the uniform in my hands and took a deep breath.

"What have I gotten myself into?" I wondered out loud...

* * *

><p>I opened the door to the room and walked out slowly. Nicol, Yzak and Dearka were talking quietly amongst themselves, but stopped when I walked out.<p>

"Nice." Dearka commented, speaking for the first time, "Suits you." I almost smiled when Yzak punched him in the arm and muttered something about me definitely not being in ZAFT.

"Here." Nicol said, and handed me a hat that matched the uniform and had the ZAFT insignia emblazoned on the front. "Put that on and keep it pulled down."

I nodded, doing as he said. Once that was done I looked to the strange group once more and saw Nicol nodding to the other two.

"Right, let's go." Dearka said then began walking. I followed after Nicol and Yzak.

"Oh and keep your mouth shut too." Yzak snapped a moment later.

I just kept walking, deciding that it was smarter not to answer. We moved on like this for a while, but this time the corridors were more lively with officers and ZAFT soldiers patrolling and moving from place to place. Thankfully no one even gave us a second glance. I wondered if the emptiness from earlier had been staged. Had Le Creuset done that to toy with me like Yzak said?

As we moved further through the twists and turns of corridors there began to be less and less people around, and I found myself hoping that was a good thing.

"Right, now just keep quiet and look like you know what your doing." Yzak said, keeping his voice low as we moved.

Nicol branched off at one off the corridors, I briefly wondered if I should have gone with him but the fact that Yzak hadn't growled probably meant that I was suppose to be here.

I followed them down another corridor, and then noticed the two guards standing outside a room at the end of the corridor. I watched Yzak stride ahead as though he owned the place.

From where I was with Dearka I heard Yzak bark at the men a few times and saw the salute he got.

"We are going to be taking over the duty of guarding this post!" He snapped. "Commanders orders!"

The two guards moved quickly to the side and saluted once more before moving off, saluting Dearka and I as they went.

Dearka smirked at Yzak.

"That was sweet man!"

Yzak simply smirked back then turned his gaze to me.

"Well get in there! This where they are holding him. But hurry the hell up, it wont take them long to realize that they were tricked." Yzak snapped.

I didn't need any other incentive, and quickly moved past him and into the room beyond.

Athrun was laying on the bed when I entered but he sat up quickly.

"Hey." I said as I removed the hat Nicol had given me.

"Kira!" Athrun jumped up quickly and moved over, grasping my shoulders. "How? When? You crazy damn idiot!" He said, but smiled the whole time.

I smiled back and was glad to see that Athrun was complete unharmed.

"Nice to see you too." I smiled at him.

"Never thought I would see you in one of those uniforms." Athrun laughed as he looked at me in the ZAFT uniform.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." I replied smiling at him.

"Hell no!" Athrun replied.

I had finally found him! I felt some of the weight on my shoulders lift now that I had gotten to Athrun, I was so happy that u hadn't lost him as well. A small tapping on the door caught my attention and I smirked when I saw Athrun frowning at the door.

"Come on, we have to get out of here. Yzak said that it wouldn't take the guards long to figure out that they were tricked." I said, pulling him towards the door.

"Yzak?" Athrun asked surprised.

"Yeah, Dearka and Nicol as well." I explained, "They helped me from a tough situation earlier."

"Oh...Ok then." He nodded as we exited the room.

Yzak and Dearka both smirked at Athrun as soon as we got out.

"You owe us big time Zala." Dearka jibed. I saw the comradeship between them then and I was happy for Athrun. He had been worried that he lost everything when he left his team behind.

"Yeah whatever, lets just get out of here." Athrun replied smiling at both of them.

"We need to get to the hangar." Nicol said, walking down the corridor. "There are two... rides that will get the two of you to safety in one of the private hangers."

I wondered briefly where Nicol had gone when he branched off from us, but I didn't bother asking. I would probably find out later.

"Two rides?" Athrun asked.

"Yeah, your little friend lost his on the way in." Dearka said motioning towards me as he spoke.

Athrun instantly gave me a questioning look and I shrugged in response. I could explain later, but right now we needed to get out of here.

"Later." I replied then looked to Nicol, "Let's go."

He nodded once and we all started moving. I felt a strange sense of repetition as we moved, but I was glad to have Athrun back again. Now, all we had to do was escape...

Easier said than done...

* * *

><p><strong>Well that's it for now, hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to hearing what you think :)<strong>

**Please review for me, I would like to know if anyone still reads this.**


	28. Chapter 28

**This is quite a bit later than I would have liked, and for that I apologize. My laptop has been playing up for some time now and, for some reason, it refused to allow me to log onto Fanfiction except for rare occasions. But now I have a new computer to use and no longer have that issue. **

**Thanks to the people who reviewed the last chapter.**

**Now... on with the story!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 28: Labyrinth<strong>

_**Athrun's POV:**_

I was hungry and tired, but over all I felt quite energized now that I was freed of the small, bland room that I had been kept in. Seeing Kira again and hearing of the crazy things he had gone through to get here filled me with pride and happiness.

I was glad that Nicol, Daeka and Yzak had also pitched in to help; although Yzak was his usual cold self, I was sure that the four of us had never been closer; sure, we had fought side by side and back to back but that still wasn't the same as the ties of comradeship that bound us now.

I tore into the pack of rations that Nicol handed me, glad that they had decided to stop for a rest. One of the things that was worst about being held prisoner was the food; you only get the left overs and a minimal amout at that, it was a weakening techinique that many militaries used to break captives.

"Thanks." I mumbled once I swallowed a mouthful of food.

Nicol smiled at me warmly then bit into his own rations pack, Dearka and Yzak were standing over by the door talking quietly to one another and Kira was resting against the wall.

We were in one of the large storage rooms a few corridors down from the room I had been kept in, originally the plan had been to go straight to one of the hangers, where Nicol assured me there would be escape rides for both Kira and I, but the Commander had probably forseen Kira succeeding in getting me out when Kira went off the radar, and sure enough we soon found a large group of soldiers hurrying towards my cell. Had it not been for Yzak's quick reaction and pushing us into the room we would have most likely been caught.

Fishing the last of my rations I scrunched up the packet and stuffed it in my pocket, then leaned back against the crate behind me.

"You ok?" Kira's soft voice carried over to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied giving him a reassuring smile. Even though I had seen Kira fighting for so long now it was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that he had infiltrated a ZAFT base, he was no longer the little, innocent boy I once knew; he had seen death and even brought it to others, it had toughened him.

"We should move soon." Yzak said abruptly from his place by the door. I knew that he was right; soon ZAFT personel would be swarming the place and searching in every room for me and most likely Kira as well.

"It will be hard moving around like this." I said as I stood up. "They know what I look like on sight, and if you guys are seen with us it will be the end for you as well. They might even have a description of Kira to add to the list of troubles."

"Your right." Nicol said, "But simply putting a hat over your face won't work like it did for Kira, like you said; you are too well known."

Yzak muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Pain in the ass' but I couldn't be sure.

"Well, we will just have to take the long way." Dearka piped up. When everyone gave him a quizical look he sighed and elaborated; "We will have to use all the back corridors, ones that they wouldn't think to look down."

Yzak and Nicol nodded while Kira looked slightly confused.

"Why wouldn't they look there?" He asked, confirming my guess at his confusion.

"Technically this is an old Earth Alliance base, during take over the EA soldiers poisoned a large portion of the base, which was quite a bit smaller then, and the chemicals lingered afterwards making it unsafe for most people. People avioded the place for so long that most don't even remember it is there, besides even though scientists have confirmed that the area is clear of those poisons now but there is still the threat of traps. That just means that no one will willingly go there." Nicol explained quickly.

Kira nodded, taking in the new information quickly.

"That sounds like the best plan then..." He said after a moment, we all nodded our agreement.

"We should take some more of the food rations from here." I said, "We have no idea how long it will take to get out of this base, or how long it will even take to navigate a way through the old halls to get near enough to the hangar."

"Good idea Athrun." Nicol said then moved to gather some more of the rations we had found in one of the crates.

"Whatever, just hurry." Yzak snapped. "We need to move before they find us."

* * *

><p>Leaving to room had proved difficault as there were now several patrols, but we eventually made it. Yzak walked ahead fo us;working as a look out for any trouble, while Dearka brought up the rear.<p>

Nicol, Kira and I walked in the middle. All of us were tense and on edge as we moved.

"How far?" Kira asked, needing no elaberation for us to understand where he meant.

"It's not to much further." I answered getting a nod as acknowledgement.

I was itching to talk to Kira and find out what had happened since I was caught; all I really knew was that Kira had managed to get into the base but had lost the Strike in the process. I wanted to hear that he was ok for real and not just hiding it.

While I was lost in thought we had moved into another area of the base; one close to the abonadoned area. Even here the corridors were dusty and pretty much undisturbed, when we all realized this we were able to relax a bit, knowing that the further we got, the less chance of coming by any ZAFT personel.

"We should be pretty much safe now." Yzak said as he came back to us.

"We should still be on guard though, we have no clue how far they will be willing to go to get these two." Dearka said motioning to Kira as I as he too walked up to us once again.

We walked on in silence after that and I found myself hoping that we just might get out of here without an issue; but I also knew that such hope could be easily crushed, so I attempted to keep a lid on it before it grew further.

After all Yzak, Dearka, Nicol and I had worked under the commander for long enough to know that he was no fool and would most likely catch on to our plan after a while. The question was; could we get out _before_ he figured it out.

We were well and truely into the abandioned section of the base now, the only lighting was red LED lights that served as back up and ran off next to nothing, dust coated the ground and walls thickly, causing us to leave a clear trail in the dust. The air was stagnant, old and, mixed with the dust, created an eerie atmosphere that did nothing to ease the nerves.

"I don't like it down here..." Kira muttered as we walked on. He had fallen back to walk beside me a while ago. Kira looked tired but determined, and simply having him there gave me hope.

"Me either." I admitted, "But this is the safest option we have... and the only one with any level of success."

"Yeah... I know... I wonder how this place looked when it was in use..." Kira contiued. Looking over at him I saw that he was thinking deeply about something.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not quite understanding his line of thought.

"Well, it looks so... dark now, but once this would have been like someones home... I was just wondering how it looked to them." Kira explained.

"I guess..." I replied.

Looking around I could see what Kira meant; we were walking through here in caution, with fears of what these halls held, but once people would have walked through here talking easily and laughing with friends. I shook my head to rid myself of the images of happy faces being covered in blood as their base was taken over. Was that what Kira saw? A past covered in blood? I looked to him once more wondering how he always managed to see both sides of a conflict. No wonder it pained him to fight.

I had walked through the base above us a few times before, yet I had spared no throught to how the base had been aquired nor the fate of those who had previously lived and worked here...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

I had a bad feeling.

This area of the base was old and decrepid and I couldn't help thinking that there was something waiting for us at every turn. My legs were tired, muscles burning with each step I took as we wound our way through the maze of the abandioned portion of the base.

At first I had been surprised and glad to hear that there even was an unused area that we could utilize for an escape, but now... after spending the last few hours walking around and finding nothing but dead ends or collaped walls blocking our path, and in turn our escape, I was no longer so glad.

Any talking that had gone on between us had died long ago, the only exception being Yzak swearing under his breath when we found our path blocked, or Nicol and Athrun comparing their knowledge of the base to work out the possible route.

A collectove groan went through the five of us as we found ourselves at another dead end.

"What the hell! Again?" Yzak yelled, punching the wall in front of him. "Why the hell would anyone build such a damn maze!"

With a sigh I slid down the wall to the side of me, sitting down to rest for a while. Athrun sat down next to me and I could see Nicol and Dearka also moving to rest while Yzak contiuned to rage.

"You ok?" Athrun asked, pitching his voice low.

"Yeah..." I siad nodding, "Just tired is all." There was concern in his eyes still but he took the answer and sat back against the wall.

"This could take a while." Nicol muttered from the other side of the corridor.

"Come on Yzak, there is no point in yelling like that, calm down man." Dearka said focusing his attention on Yzak, who simply huffed indignantly but stopped yelling, instead stomping over and sitting down heavily next to Dearka.

"Let's get some rest guys, other wise we'll just wear ourselvs out and be no good if we manage to get out of the base near the hanagr." Athrun said, shifting himself into a more comfortable position.

There was a collective agreement and everyone moved to also get comfortable.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<strong>_

"Report?" I snapped at the soldier I had placed in charge of finding Athrun and Kira Yamato. I was out of patience with these kids. That damn Yamato had avioded me once again, and now he had managed to get Athrun as well.

"We have checked the entire floor Sir, but both Athrun Zala and the infiltrator have avoided us." The young soldier reported with a crist salute.

"The the upper floors?" I asked, taking a deep breath.

"All entrances to the upper areas of the base were well gaurded before Athrun broke out, as per your orders, Sir."

I nodded, I had allowed Yamato the 'freedom' of movement in order to herd him in, yet he had some how managed to get away.

Where were they hiding?

There were few places for two boys to hide on that floor; especially if one was unfamilure with both the area and workings of a base such as this.

"Prehaps the ventilation shafts, Sir?" The solder said hesitantly, I looked at him for a moment ready to explain that even though both boys were small, neither would be able to fit there, when I paused and pondered a new thought.

"No... But prehaps they found a different route..." I said aloud. The more I thought of it the more I was sure that it was the only option available to them in this situation.

"Sir?" The young solder questioned, obviously curious.

"Tell me, have the men searched the old facilities?" I asked.

"Facilities Sir?"

That was answer enough; few of the younger men even knew of the old Earth Base unless they were in high respects with older solders or commanders.

"I want you and your men down in the old abandioned area of the base, find an older member for information on the area. I want that area scoured for the escapee and infiltraitor immediately; we do not have the time to let them waltz around."

"Yes, Sir!" I was given a quick, crisp salute before the young man scurried off to carry out my orders.

This time I would not allow them to escape; they were the last pieces to this war, and if I was to continue pressing the attack on the other Earth Bases then I would need to move quickly. If intell was right the EA was getting desperate, and that can make people unpredictable...

* * *

><p><strong>Well, this took way longer that I thought to get writen. I apologise for that. <strong>

**In other news... this story is nearly at an end, I finally have an idea as to how I am going to end it, however the last few chapters may not be written before Exam time is over as I need to study... even if I really don't want to.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**


	29. Chapter 29

**It took much to long to get this done, but its finally here. This is the last chapter of Conflicted. Due to how much I want to cover from different perspectives, the start of this chapter will be in 3rd person perspective. **

**Well, on with the chapter...**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 29: Requiem of Resolution<strong>

_**On the Archangel:**_

Murrue Ramius stood looking at the carnage before her; the entire base had been utterly annihilated, the only remains being the smouldering heaps that were once proud buildings of the Earth Forces base. It was hard for her to imagine how this could have happened when not even 48 hours previously she had been speaking with the members of the base to organise a safe place to dock and disembark.

Only carnage greeted her and the other members of the Archangel crew.

"How could this have happened?" The soft voice of Mir sounded out of place in the unnaturally silent environment.

"They were attacked." Mwu said equally as softly as his battle trained eyes scanned the area. "Well more like slaughtered."

Murrue finally turned to look at those with her. She could see the fear in all of the teenagers that had firstly accompanied Kira onto the Archangel, but they also stood strong in the face of the carnage as well, something that brought pride to both Murrue and Mwu.

Mir stood with Sai, Kuzzey and Flay as she tried to see any spark of life within the ruins before her. Her chest held a hollow ache that had not left her since she had found out about Tolly's death, the ache only made worse by Kira's absence and the scent and sight of death before her.

_Will Kira come back? _She thought sadly, _How can he fight against this?..._

Quite suddenly the warm atmosphere that had surrounded the bridge on the Archangel turned stale and frigid.

"What do we do?" Kuzzey asked.

Mwu and Murrue looked to each other, knowing that searching for survivors would be futile and useless. Mwu sighed before turning back to look at the teenagers.

"We leave. There is nothing we can do here, our best hope is to go to the nearest EA base and hope they are safe and managed to escape this fate." He said firmly. The blond haired mobile armour pilot was concerned that this had all happened so close to them without knowing, and also about how quickly it had ended.

His mind travelled quickly to Kira and hoped, not for the first time in the last few days, that the young brunette was ok and at very least alive.

"Prepare the ship to leave." Murrue said to everyone around her. The bridge crew moved quickly and quietly to their positions, preparing the Archangel for launch with practised ease. It was then that the transmission came through.

"Unknown ship. Identify yourself immediately or face being shot down for intruding on Earth Alliance airspace." It came through the speakers loud and clear and it also sent a spark of hope through the people assembled.

"Open the airwaves." Murrue commanded, moving to the captains chair and sitting down before responding, "I am Captain Murrue Ramius of the Earth Alliance Forces, this ship is known as the Archangel." There was a tense wait as everyone listened for the response.

"Captain Ramius, it is good to hear you and the Archangel are safe. We have heard of you and been informed of your ship, but we had feared that you had been caught in the attack here." Came the reply.

The ship turned out to be one of the stealth ships of the EA, that had come to investigate the sudden loss of communication with the base here.

"We're going to have to ask for your help." The captain of the other ship said, "The situation is bad in space and we're not sure how long we can keep a hold of the launcher to get our forces into space."

"Of course." Murrue replied, "We don't currently have our Mobile suit and pilot but we will do all we can."

Everyone on the bridge nodded silently in agreement. They were all to involved in the war to stop now, and they were needed else where. Everyone wanted to prevent the same thing that happened here from happening else where.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<strong>_

We were lost. I lost track of any sense of time a while back as we wound our way through the old area of the base, and I was extremely glad that we had brought he rations down with us as we had all had to stop and eat a while back.

"Let's try down here." Nicol said as we headed down another corridor, as he referenced the area around us with a map of the base above. I had no idea where he had gotten it from, but once we had figured out that we had absolutely no clue where to go he had pulled it out. Yzak was fuming silently behind us as we walked and I was sure that it was only the fact that Dearka was working to calm him down that kept him from raging at the rest of us.

Athrun and I were walking just behind Nicol who had taken us the front position. Conversation was worse than before with tempers being so high, and I was starting to wonder if it had been such a good idea to come down here at all in the end.

We kept walking on like this for a while before we came to another branch in the corridors and Nicol stopped.

"What is it?" Athrun asked, his voice seeming very loud after silence for so long. Nicol turned to look at us with a large grin.

"It should be just a little further down here."

"Finally!" Yzak grumbled, moving up to look at the map Nicol held. Athrun and I smiled at one another, excited at the idea of finally getting out of here. We followed Yzak and Nicol further down the corridor with Dearka ambling behind us, we were all feeling more up beat and it showed in our steps.

"Yo, do you hear that?" Dearka hissed suddenly, we turned around to see him stopped half facing the way we came.

"Hear what?" Athrun asked, he sounded tense. I took a deep breath and strained to hear whatever Dearka was hearing and only seconds later the sound reached my ears as well.

Footsteps. And lots of them.

"Crap." Dearka spat spinning to face us and moving quick, "Go!"

Had they found us already? I spun quickly and began running down the hall, Athrun next to, and slightly behind, me. Yzak and Nicol disappeared around the next corner and I quickly followed.

It was another dead end.

"What! Why now?" I asked as Athrun and I came to a stop. Nicol was looking over the map with a harried expression while Yzak drew a small hand gun and stood ready. Looking around I saw Dearka at the entrance to the corridor, also with a hand gun drawn and looking around the corner.

"Its should be just here..." Nicol muttered looking around. His eyes seemed to widen as he looked to the side in the corner. "There!"

I spun around, and sure enough in back corner where the dim light barely reached was the outline of the door we were looking for.

Athrun moved over first, hands reaching for the handle only to find it locked firmly.

"Dammit." He swore looking up to what I had already seen. "It's code encrypted." The small wall-mounted machine gave a soft glow as Athrun attempted to pry the door open by force.

"They're coming." Dearka called back softly.

Fear raced through me as we all spun to look back; sure enough the sounds of footsteps were indeed close and closing in. Why now? We were so damn close. I moved over to the door.

"Move." I said softly to Athrun, my voice much calmer than I was.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Athrun's POV:<strong>_

Things were steadily going down hill fast and of course we had found the door only to find it damn locked. Prying at the door proved useless, and it seemed that the lock had been placed in by the ZAFT forces after they had built the base over the top, most likely because it went to this hangar.

When Kira moved over I was surprised at just how calm he looked. He moved straight to the wall-mounted lock and studies it intently for a moment before he began tapping at he small touch screen with a speed impressive for even a coordinator.

The first of the gun shots sounded then, I spun around to see Dearka crouching behind the wall and bullets flying past and embedding themselves in the opposite wall. Yzak moved past me and down to Dearka where the two both began firing back whenever they had a chance.

Looking back to Kira he was still working furiously at the pad. Would he be able to crack it in time.

"Come on Kira, you can do it." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder in comfort. Nicol was standing on the other side of Kira looking like he was in shock as he watched Kira. It was quite amazing to see him work, but he had always been advanced in many things.

"Shit! They're closing in." Yzak yelled back.

Kira's hand faltered for a second before continuing to type at an even faster pace. Common'

Kira... I thought willing the lock to open under Kira's fingers.

_Click_.

The small sound barely audible over the sound of the closing in troops. I jumped for the handle and gave a cry of delight as the old handle turned and the door opened.

"Yzak, Dearka, get down here!" I yelled, holding the door open as the two sprinted down the hall and through the door, I quickly ushered Kira and Nicol in soon after before following and closing the door.

There was a flight of stairs which we all quickly ran up, the sounds of footsteps and bangs on the door came behind us.

"Faster, they're still coming!" I yelled.

Yzak burst out of a door at the top of the stairs, Dearka, Nicol Kira and myself following quickly. We came out among several crates and I thanked our luck that the heavy crates were not piled in front of the door, but I also knew that the people coming up the stairs would not be so lucky.

"Help me move some." I said as I moved over to one of the larger crates, Kira and Dearka also moving over while Yzak stood at the door listening and ready.

The crate was in place only seconds before the troops coming after us attempted to force the door open. We all waited with bated breath to see if the one large crate would hold the door closed.

"Come on, the sooner we get you out of here the better." Nicol said grabbing both Kira's and my own wrists and pulling us through the crates, Dearka and Yzak following.

Once out of the crates I looked up and gasped, my breath catching with what I saw.

"Nicol... You've really outdone yourself this time..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Le Creuset's POV:<br>**_Those damn kids... Once they had set off the sensors in the old blocks it was easy enough to send troops after them, but they had still managed to evade me. To make it worse, something that I should have noticed much earlier, the rest of my team had sided with Zala and were helping them to escape! There would be sever consequences when they were caught.

"Commander!" I turned to face the officer before me, keeping my posture relaxed and sure.

"What is it?" I asked simply.

"They... They are in the hangar Sir." The officer said, stuttering slightly at first. I remained silent for a moment, letting the news sink in. At last check they had been no where near the hangar... Unless.

"Why were they not stopped before they were able to gain access to the hangar?" I asked calmly, inside I was furious.

"W-We tried Sir, they only just managed to escape us." The officer replied shakily.

"Hmmm, nothing we can do about that then." I said simply, it seems as though they were trying everything to escape. "Very well, use force and shoot to kill if necessary. All but the small Earth Alliance boy, I have need of him."

"Sir? Even... Even Zala?" The man asked. I could understand where the fear came from, few would want to cross the Chairman by killing his son.

"Yes, he is a threat to ZAFT and therefore must be disposed of." I replied. They had no one to blame but themselves, they refused to come quietly and easily.

"Yes Sir!" The officer snapped to attention before turning and leaving his voice fading as he shouted orders.

So that is where they were heading... Very smart, not only will they be able to escape if they are successful, but they will have great power...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Kira's POV:<br>**_Looking up when Athrun spoke I gasped. Before us stood to massive Mobile Suits, bigger than any I had seen yet. They were obviously powerful; probably the most powerful yet I guessed.

"The ZGMF-X10A Freedom and the ZGMF-X09A Justice... I figured you would need better than what you had... Especially to escape." Nicol said, a strange note in his voice. "As far as I know, these two are the best ever made."

"Nicol... Thank you..." Athrun said softly, "But how did you know about them? These must be top priority..."

Looking up I found it hard to believe what I was seeing. After fighting with the Strike I had come to appreciate the build and raw power of the Gundam machines, and seeing these I could only imagine what I would find inside.

"You should go and get set up, before they get in." Dearka said from behind us. Athrun nodded and began heading over to the cables that were ready to head up to the cockpits of the machines. I looked around at all three of Athrun's old team mates.

"What about you? They would surely know that you're here by now." I asked, I had come to like them all, even the cold, angry Yzak and I didn't like the idea of them getting in serious trouble to help us.

"Don't worry about us, we're not sticking around for long." Yzak snapped, his voice sharp and angry but this time his eyes were softer as he looked at me.

"Yeah don't worry yourself over us, we can look after our own asses. You just keep Athrun safe, ok?" Dearka said, his cocky attitude for once absent.

"Ok, I will. Thank you." I said meaning every word. I quickly made my way over to Athrun who was standing between the two Gundams eyeing off the one that Nicol had pointed out to be the ZGMF-X09 Justice, I grinned at him finding the name to be fitting to his personality.

"Go ahead, that ones yours." I said, earning a grin as well.

"Ok, you go grab the other one and get it ready, then lets get the hell out of here." Athrun said before moving off.

I took a minute to look up at the ZGMF-X10 Freedom, that had been the one I had been drawn to from the moment I saw it, I had a feeling like I was _meant _to have this Gundam; even if such thoughts and feelings were stupid. Maybe with these we can end the war... I thought as I grabbed a hold of the cable and held on as I was raised upwards.

Nicol, Yzak and Dearka stood over by the edge of the crates watching us and I really hoped we could meet again in the future.

One up the top I quickly climbed into the cockpit, and instantly felt awe at the complexity of the controls before me. Sitting in the seat I quickly booted up the OS knowing that Athrun would be doing the same thing. There wasn't much to do as the OS had already been designed for a coordinator and all too soon I had all the settings ready to launch. On one of the display screens I could see Nicol over by a control panel of some sort and figured that he would be opening the hatch so that we could escape without having to blow the roof open.

"You ready Kira?" Athrun's voice came through the intercom of the Gundam loud and clear.

"Yeah, all ready." I replied. I was looking forward to getting back to the Archangel and everyone there. I really wanted to there with Mir, Sai and Kuzzey after Tolle's death, after all I felt bed for leaving like I did.

There was a shudder above us and as the roof opened up to allow us both exit. I smiled slightly at the thought of freedom, my smile only growing as I was reminded that my new Gundams name was Freedom. Appropriate.

"Let's go." I said to Athrun, activating phase shift and preparing to leave.

"Sounds good." Athrun replied, his Gundams' phase shift also activating to become predominately a brilliant red in colour.

Looking once more at the monitors that showed Nicol, Yzak and Dearka I felt my heart nearly stop when I saw Yzak and Dearka crouched behind crates and under fire while Nicol was crouching behind the panel controls to the roof.

"Athrun!" I yelled, hoping to alert him to the danger.

"I know Kira..." He replied, his voice sounded conflicted and broken, like he wanted to help but couldn't.

"Athrun?" I asked softly.

"Nicol has a transcom and he told us that we need to get out of here now before it's to late... If we miss this chance Kira, we wont get it again." Athrun said. It sounded unfair, but a part of me knew that he was right. Could we truly leave them though?

"Just get your asses out of here already!" Yzak's voice was the next to come through the intercom. "They won't kill us if it's already to late to stop you, so the best thing you can do to help is leave."

"Be careful Yzak... We will come find you when this is over ok, so don't get yourself killed." Athrun replied. I could tell he still wanted to stay and help his friends.

"Whatever Zala." Came the reply, only this time the voice was almost soft and lacked its usual bite.

"Come on Kira... Time to go." Athrun said sadly.

We both fired up the machines and slowly flew out of the hangar, the machines had great atmospheric flight and soon we were well above the ZAFT base, from there it was quite simple to out run the few GINNs that attempted to follow.

"They had better stay alive..." Athrun muttered as we flew further away, the base becoming a small dot behind us.

"The sooner this war is over the better." I replied bitterly.

"I know Kira. Together we _will_ end this war, and it was Nicol, Yzak and Dearka that gave us the power to hopefully do that." Athrun's voice was strong and determined.

"I just wish that we wouldn't have to leave anyone behind... It makes it harder... It makes us... Conflicted..."

* * *

><p><strong>That's the end of Conflicted. I would like to thank everyone that has stuck with me since I started this story, which is also my first ever full and complete story on FanFiction. I have plans for a sequel but I'm not sure if that will be started any time soon as I would like to work on my other major stories. The sequel will more or less continue where this story left off, and go over the events that the crew of the Archangel face, as well as what becomes of Yzak, Nicol and Dearka, and how the war progresses as a result of all these. <strong>

**I hope you enjoyed the story. :)**


End file.
